Chapter 74: The Manticore

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

The battle versus the Manticore~

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The Manticore's massive scorpion-like tail whips over his shoulder and more of those projectiles from earlier shoots out. Fortunately, everyone on the quest has a blessing from either Artemis or Athena and they're all able to dodge out of the way again even as the foot-long black spines litter the ground and wall behind them.

Noting the poison dripping off of said spines, Zoe's eyes widen slightly when she realizes that three-fifths of their party might not know about that aspect of the monster they're facing.

"Do not let his spines hit you! They are coated in poison that causes intense agony!"

The Manticore tilts his head to the side at that, even as everyone else nods to show they've heard Zoe's words. The monster's human face twists into something angry.

"So eager to give up my secrets, Lackey of Artemis. You would do well not to speak on things you do not understand!"

Zoe's eyes widen as the monster, instead of shooting more projectiles, throws HIMSELF at her. Launching through the air with a roar, the Manticore arrives at her position in barely a few seconds, forcing her to scurry back to try and keep some distance between them. She can't fire her bow this close, not without letting him catch her.

Fortunately for her sake, she's not alone. There are four others and the Manticore's sudden focus on her leaves him vulnerable to everyone else. An arrow from Phoebe splits the air and strikes him in the side, while at the same time there's a roar from Percy and the Son of Poseidon suddenly interposes himself between Zoe and the Manticore, Riptide in his hand.

The Celestial Bronze Sword forces the Manticore to rear back on his hind legs for a moment as Percy nearly slashes him across the face. Nearly, but not quite unfortunately.

"Perseus Jackson… you fight so hard and for what? You needn't struggle you know. We do not have to be enemies."

Percy's jaw clenches at that and he doesn't waver for even a moment.

"From where I'm standing… yeah, we kind of do. You are a monster after all. And, ya know, you're the one who attacked us unprovoked."

Letting out a rumbling chuckle, the Manticore pulls back a little bit. He sends out a few probing spines at all of them, but once again, none of them land. Percy even cuts one of the projectiles in half with Riptide in a show of utter disrespect.

"The tides are changing, boy. The Great Stirring has already begun. The worst of the worst, the most powerful monsters you can imagine… are waking up. Monsters that this world has not seen in thousands of years. They will cause chaos and destruction the likes of which no living mortal has ever witnessed!"

Zoe tenses up at the Manticore's crowing. If that were true… it didn't sound good. Not at all. In fact, it sounded very, very bad. Combined with the monster talking about her father and Zoe found herself even more worried about Lady Artemis than ever before.

"Wow. Kind of a fanboy, aren't you?"

Blinking, Zoe looks over to see Thalia Grace smirking at the Manticore even as his head whips in her direction and his eyes narrow dangerously.

"… Excuse me?"

The Daughter of Zeus just shrugs, acting nonchalant.

"Well you just did a lot of talking about the most powerful monsters we've never heard of. Guess you don't count though, do you? Been hanging around all this time. Minding the place, tending to the chores. Must suck knowing you'll never be as good as your idols."

Oh. She was trying to piss him off. It works, of course. The Manticore tenses up and Zoe opens her mouth to shout to Thalia that she needs to dodge. But in the end, she doesn't need to say anything. Thalia knows exactly what she's getting into mouthing off like that.

"YOU DARE?!"

With an angry roar, the Manticore leaps again, this time bounding after Thalia. She dodges to the side without any real panic or concern in her movements though, the Blessing of Athena granting her grace in battle befitting of Thalia's family name.

In the meantime, both Zoe and Phoebe now have room to fire their bows and the two Hunters of Artemis are very quick to do exactly that, shooting arrow after arrow at the monster as he chases Thalia around the wide open space.

Percy isn't content to sit idly by either however. And this time he's a little smarter about things. Instead of going for the direct approach and interposing himself between the Manticore and his prey… Percy moves with more subtly, until he's in position behind the raging monster.

Thalia dances back out of the way of the Manticore's massive paws until finally the enraged creature has enough of her dodging and stops in his tracks, bringing his spined tail to bare once more. That, however, was exactly what Percy was waiting on.

Before, the Manticore's scorpion tail would sweep back and forth behind him while he was trying to use his claws. But now, as he prepares to shoot more of those foot-long poisonous spines at the current object of his ire, the tail arches upwards so the tip is raised over the top of his head… and the base is perfectly exposed to Percy's ensuing sweeping blade.

The howl that comes from the Manticore's mouth as he's relieved of his tail is all too human as he lets out an agonized bellow and whips around too fast for even Zoe's enhanced eyes to follow. His paw slams into Percy, throwing the demigod back away from him, but the damage is already done.

"PERCY!"

Thalia's cry is half-snarl as she sees her lover take the blow, and all of the sudden the female demigod is right in the Manticore's face and slamming a fist into his jaw with a crack that sends him stumbling back.

Zoe and Phoebe share a look and act quickly, firing a pair of special arrows that create a golden net between them as they embed themselves in the ground on either side of the dazed monster. In a moment, the tail-less Manticore is restrained to the floor of the museum, struggling but unable to escape. After all, those arrows were imbued with fragments of Lady Artemis' divinity. The Goddess of the Hunt would never let her prey escape once it had been captured.

Bianca and Thalia both race over to where Percy landed while Zoe watches on stricken for a moment. Such a blow… might normally be enough to kill a man, even a demigod. Not one blessed by a goddess, however. Indeed, Percy is groaning but nevertheless able to rise to his feet with the help of Thalia and Bianca in short order.

Zoe is relieved… but also ashamed of herself. Because for a split second there, she did actually find herself hoping that he might be dead. If only because then, just maybe, the rest of the prophecy wouldn't come into play.

It's a disgraceful train of thought and Zoe truly is glad that Percy is mostly all right. She just… doesn't know what to do about all of that. Never mind though, because they have enough on their plates in the present. The three demigods walk back over so all five of them can stand over the captured Manticore and stare down at him.

Snarling, the Manticore glares up at them through the golden net holding him in place.

"You think you've won? You're only delaying the inevitable. The General's plans will be completed. Lord Kronos will rise anew. You-ooph!"

Zoe winces as Bianca suddenly rears back a foot and slams it into the Manticore's ribs… hard. The blessed demigod's enhanced strength means that the Manticore's eyes bulge out of his head from the blow, the breath expelled forcibly from his lungs. Such a big monster… but he definitely felt that all the same.

"Shut up! Just shut up and tell us what we want to know!"

Right. Bianca's outburst and anger over Percy getting hurt aside, she wasn't wrong. Stepping forward, Bianca draws an arrow and notches it, pointing it directly at one of the Manticore's mismatched eyes.

"Where is Lady Artemis? What has been done with her? Tell us and we might just let you go."

A lie, of course. There was no way they were letting him go instead of returning him to Tartarus. And the Manticore knows it too, not even phased as he looks up at her with a wicked grin.

"I'll make you a counteroffer, Lackey of Artemis. Join me. Help me subdue these three demigods and come with me to bring them to the General. He'll tell you where Artemis is himself."

Zoe purses her lips together into a thin line at that. She doesn't even have to think about the offer, to be fair. She's not stupid.

"Don't be an idiot. You're in no position to negotiate. The Hunters of Artemis are not in the business of betraying our allies… and even if we were, it seems pretty obvious we'd be joining the losing side from where I'm standing."

The Manticore's grin only grows wider and he lets out a dark chuckle.

"That afraid to see daddy again, are you?"

Zoe flinches at that, unable to help herself. And unfortunately, the others see that. Phoebe already knows her parentage of course, but the three demigods… well, they're definitely a little suspicious.

"Zoe? What's he talking about?"

Biting her lower lip, Zoe lets out a sigh.

"The General he keeps talking about… I only know one individual that goes by such a title who would make sense in this context. And now the Manticore has all but confirmed it. His master… is Atlas, the Titan of Endurance, Lieutenant of Kronos… and my father."

As Percy, Bianca, and Thalia are all left reeling from that, the Manticore snarls beneath the golden net.

"That's Lord Atlas to all of you, whelps! You think by defeating me that you've done anything but delay the inevitable? The General has plans within plans. We have an army, you fools! Demigods such as yourselves should be grateful to even be given the opportunity to join the General and fight by his side! Otherwise, all you are is meat to feed the many monsters who have already proven smart enough to follow him!"

Zoe frowns at the Manticore's ranting words. Not just because of the grotesque mental images, but also because she doesn't like what he's implying. Nor is she imagining things because she isn't the only one to pick up on the hidden meaning.

"Hang on a second. I'm not as well-versed in my Greek Mythology as I probably should be all things considered… but isn't Atlas the dude who's supposed to be holding up the sky? But then something or someone was holding up the sky before the gods won against the titans in the first place right? How does that work again, exactly?"

Thalia is the one to raise the question. Zoe, having been there, is forced to answer it.

"After the Olympians defeated the Titans, my father Atlas mocked Zeus for his supposed ignorance after the King of the Gods told them all that he was intending to throw them into Tartarus. Before the Titanomachy, it was the Titan Lords of the Four Cardinal Directions of North, South, East, and West who held up the sky."

Shaking her head, Zoe's frown only gets deeper. There's a sinking feeling in her gut that she can't quite place.

"But Zeus already knew this and had prepared a special punishment for Atlas. Namely, he had the Elder Cyclopes construct a massive supporting pillar for the sky atop Mount Orthys and chained Atlas to it, making the Titan of Endurance bear the weight of the sky on his shoulders for all time."

Silence falls as everyone processes the story. But of course, Thalia just has more questions.

"… Then why is this monster talking like this Atlas guy is walking around free and in the clear? Last I checked, the sky was still above our heads so… what gives?"

Yeah. That's the problem, isn't it? Because from the way that the Manticore was talking, it sure sounded like her father was running around doing Kronos' bidding again. And that shouldn't have been possible.

Under the golden net, the Manticore has gone still and silent, perhaps realizing that he's said too much. But before any of them can interrogate him further, everything goes to shit.

Catching the flash of something gold just out of the corner of her eye, Zoe leaps back and thankfully so do the others because a truly massive monster lands where they were all standing mere moments before, forcing them to scramble even further back in response.

Easily the size of the truck, the Nemean Lion's metallic gold fur shines particularly well in the artificial light of the Air and Space Museum, even as it snarls at them all.

"Yes! Haha! Release me beast, and we shall fight side by-urk!"

The Manticore's demands are interrupted by the Nemean Lion placing one utterly massive paw on top of the Manticore's head. The size difference between the two monsters is staggering, with just one of the Nemean Lion's paws covering the other monster's entire skull.

"What… what are you doing?!"

Staring right at all of them, the Nemean Lion slams his paw down with a sickening crunch before pushing off and beginning to bound in their direction.

Things… just went from bad to worse.

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The Vote:

[ ] The Nemean Lion launches himself at the hunters - 27%[X] The Nemean Lion launches himself at the campers - 73%

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