Chapter 84: The Garden

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A/N: Zoe has a plan. Or so she thinks.

-x-X-x-

Zoe hadn't failed to notice that Percy came back the night before a little bit later than expected, but truth be told she'd had far too much on her mind to care.

Now it was the next morning and she'd barely slept in more than fits and starts. To be fair though, today was going to make or break just about everything, so she had to admit that she couldn't be sure what was going to happen next.

They were heading up to Mount Othrys, to find the place where her father Atlas SHOULD have been holding up the weight of the Sky on his broad Titan shoulders. However, given everything they knew at this point, Zoe anticipated that it wouldn't be Atlas that they'd find there… but Artemis herself, somehow tricked into taking the Titan's burden for him.

There wasn't much else beyond something like that which could hope to shackle a Goddess like Lady Artemis after all. So even if it was maybe a little presumptuous, Zoe was preparing herself for the worst case scenario all the same.

However, before they could get to Lady Artemis…

"Everyone, we should talk about what we will encounter as we ascend the Mountain. First and foremost, we must make our way passed the Garden of the Hesperides… and that will be no easy feat. The Hesperides themselves are not fighters, but the Golden Apple Tree in the center of the Garden is guarded by a great monster known as Ladon, the dragon of a hundred heads."

Seeing that she has everyone's attention now, Zoe squares her shoulders and takes in a deep breath.

"Fortunately, you're traveling with me. In the distance past, I myself was a Hesperides. I should be able to convince the dragon Ladon to let us pass unharmed so we can continue on our way without issue and complete our Quest."

Phoebe nods, having already known all about Zoe's past. Thalia and Bianca look surprised but seem to find her words agreeable. Percy Jackson however… looks a little sheepish.

"Ah, that shouldn't be necessary, Zoe. I managed to secure safe passage through the Garden last night."

Everyone, Zoe included, is startled by this declaration. Gaping for a moment, Zoe furrows her brow in consternation.

"What? How did you do that?"

At the same time, Thalia leans in close.

"Hey! Is this why you came back from gathering water a little later last night? You wouldn't tell us what you were doing!"

Letting out a sheepish laugh and rubbing a hand through his hair, Percy shrugs.

"I've made a deal with the Goddess Hera to see us safely through the Garden. She should be here any second to act as our escort."

Excuse her?! Zoe's jaw drops open at that, even as everyone else's eyes go wide. He'd made a deal… with Hera?! That didn't make any sense! On a surface level, Hera should have as much reason to dislike Percy as Lady Artemis did. After all before getting to know him, Percy came off as a womanizer and a philanderer… the exact opposite of what a Goddess of Marriage would prefer.

Of course, as the seconds drag by and Hera doesn't materialize, Zoe begins to question Percy's claims. In fact, she starts to feel just a little bit foolish for immediately believing him without question. It was just… so many weird things happened surrounding Percy that she supposed at this point one more weird thing didn't seem so crazy.

Phoebe is the one who eventually points out the obvious in an incredulous, dry tone.

"It would seem the Queen of the Gods is not materializing, Jackson."

Looking around with a frown of his own, Percy shakes his head after a moment and sighs.

"I guess she's a little shy."

There's a rumbling under their feet at that, causing Zoe and Phoebe to blanch. You did NOT tell the Queen of the Gods that she was 'shy'! Especially after making promises on her behalf!

Except… Percy seems unconcerned. In fact, he even smiles and shrugs as he ignores the rumbling.

"Maybe she called ahead then. We'll just have to start climbing the mountain to find out."

Much to Zoe's shock and confusion, Percy is not smote on the spot for his arrogance. In fact, after a moment, the rumbling beneath them subsides and all goes still again. Almost… almost like he's right. There's just no way though, is there? S-Surely not.

"Come on. Either I'm right or I'm wrong. If I'm wrong, then Zoe can still try her plan, yeah? In the end it doesn't really matter… it's not like we're going to stop now."

… That was fair. For Lady Artemis, Zoe was willing to do just about anything, including dying if it proved necessary. She refused to allow Lady Artemis to remain imprisoned any longer.So really, in the end it mattered little whether Percy was correct or not. They would have to get through the Garden either way, because the metaphysical properties of the area did not allow for them to simply 'go around' or ascend another side of the mountain instead.

With that said, they pack up their things and begin the trek up the mountain from their campsite. Zoe can't help but be on edge as they get higher and higher, and in turn get closer and closer to the Garden. She's as tense as a bowstring by the time the entrance to the Garden finally comes into sight… and her anxiety only mounts when she sees there are nymphs waiting for them outside.

Two of the Hesperides smile and preen under their group's gaze as they approach. But the nymphs only have eyes… for Percy Jackson.

"Greetings, Perseus Jackson and his concubines~"

What?!

"We welcome you to our Garden. Walk free and safe through our Mistress' Lands… by her order."

H-Holy shit, Percy had been telling the truth! He really had made some sort of deal with Hera to allow them safe passage through her Garden!

Nudging Percy in the side, Thalia growls at him.

"Percy… the hell did you offer Hera for this shit?"

Zoe has to admit, she's burning with curiosity and dying to know that as well. Interestingly enough, so is everyone else… including the Hesperides. They lean in to hear Percy's response just as the rest of the party does, expressions of clear intrigue spread across their faces.

But Percy just shakes his head with a smile.

"It's not a big deal, don't worry. And ultimately, that's between me and the Goddess."

Shoulders slump all around, because nobody is about to demand more answers from him when he's talking like that. Not and risk upsetting Hera herself in the process. Instead, the Hesperides lead them into the Garden itself, where more nymphs are pretending to be tending to the groves, when really they're all but staring at the people in their midst.

Strangely enough, Zoe finds herself… ignored. She was expecting no end of snide remarks and bitchy comments from the other Hesperides, given that she'd once been among their number. Sure, it had been thousands of years since she'd tended to this garden with them, but that was the thing about long-lived beings like them. They never forgot.

But no. The Hesperides only seem to have eyes for Percy, some of them even leaving their duties to crowd around him in interest, only for the first two to call them out and send them back to their work.

As they get closer to the center of the Garden however, a weight begins to settle on their shoulders… a massive presence looming over them all.

"So then… you are the one Mistress says I cannot bite."

They all have to crane their heads back, Percy included, to see the one hundred headed dragon Ladon towering over them. Half-curled around a tree with golden apples dangling from it, Ladon huffs from dozens of his hundred heads.

"Go ahead. Try it. Try to take one of the apples and I will have leave to kill every last one of you."

A shiver runs down Zoe's spine as several of Ladon's heads focus on her in particular, clearly counting her among that number. It would seem her plan to try to fool Ladon into letting her and the others get passed would have gone… poorly to say the least.

Clearing his throat, Percy respectfully bows his head.

"Oh Great Ladon, we thank you for being willing to grant us safe passage. None of us will touch your tree, I swear it on my life."

There's a pause… and then Ladon grumbles to himself. Literally, given the hundred heads.

"Well. At least you're polite, I suppose. Very well. Go on then. Oh and take the red haired one with you. She's been smart to avoid me and my tree, but her presence nevertheless grates on my senses."

Wait… what red haired one? Percy looks just as baffled as Zoe feels in this moment, even as they move past Ladon and the Golden Apple Tree that stands as the pride of Hera's Garden. Once they've made it a distance away from the one hundred headed dragon, Percy looks to their guides, who are very clearly not making eye contact with him.

"What did he mean by a 'red haired one'? Is there someone else in this Garden besides us?"

Sharing a glance, the pair of nymphs both develop mighty pouts and the most powerful puppy dog eyes they can muster as they look back to Percy.

"Oh but you can't take her!"

"She's the most fun we've had in ages!"

"Ah, d-don't let our Mistress know about her either, please!"

"We're just… playing with her a little!"

That 'don't let our Mistress know' was probably inadvisable, because if the Hesperides really thought that Hera wasn't watching all of this from on high, they were idiots. The ground rumbles and their faces drain of blood as they go deathly pale. Giving their guides a dry look, Percy just raises an eyebrow.

"I'd say she already knows. Take us to this 'red haired one'. Now."

Pouting and bemoaning the loss of their plaything under their breaths, the pair of Hesperides nevertheless do as they're told. It does take them a little bit off the beaten path unfortunately, but Zoe is way too curious at this point to just let this lie. She still wants to save Lady Artemis… but five more minutes can't hurt right?

It's more like ten, before finally…

"Oh thank fucking GOD you're finally here!"

Jumping down from a tree that she'd apparently thought she was successfully hiding in, a young woman with red hair and freckles lands in front of them. Straightening up, she puts her hands on her hips and huffs at Percy in particular.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you to save my ass?!"

Percy just blinks dumbly, leaving Zoe to step forward and ask the obvious.

"Who exactly are you?"

Looking over at her, the red head sniffs haughtily.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare, at your service. And I'm the one that those assholes up the mountain used to convince your Mistress to take my place in holding up the sky!"

Zoe blinks rapidly at that, unable to formulate a response for a moment as her worst fears are confirmed by the most unlikely of sources. Who… who was this woman?!

"There I was, minding my own business. I decided to take a gap year after graduating, you see. Figured I could still go to University at nineteen as easily as eighteen, ya know? But noooo. Can't even go on one family trip to Hoover Dam without getting snatched up by bad guys!"

More confused than ever before, Zoe is extremely grateful when Percy takes over the questioning again, allowing her to step back both physically and mentally for a moment.

"Wait, did you say they used you to get Artemis to hold up the sky?"

Grimacing and nodding, Rachel huffs as she explains.

"Yeah. Look, I didn't see who originally took me, okay? So when I woke up on this mountain, it was just me and Luke. That handsome blond bastard was the one holding up the sky at that point. He was having a really hard time with it, and I couldn't go and get help because look at me and look at this place. So when he suggested that I take the load for a little bit while HE went and got help… I mean, it seemed like a good idea. Or maybe I was just tricked by his stupid handsome face, ugh."

She's definitely… a talker, Zoe notes.

"Anyways, after they tricked me, I was being crushed by the sky pretty fast. Wouldn't have lasted more than a few days apparently. And so when they brought Artemis in and told her she could either let me die and let the sky fall or take up the burden herself and save me and everyone else… well, she did the heroic thing I guess."

Scratching at her cheek, Rachel sighs.

"Anyways, apparently I'm special in some way, so they let me live. Jokes on them though, I totally escaped and ran down here. Been hiding out in this place from the fuck-off dragon with a hundred heads and these nymph creatures ever since."

Okay… she's pretty sure she's starting to understand. This young woman does smell of a maiden to Zoe. Meaning that despite being over eighteen, she's definitely still virginal. And that… that would have spoken to Lady Artemis more than any other bait that they could have used for this trap.

"Oh and you're Percy, right?"

Zoe raises an eyebrow as Percy jolts and then cautiously nods. Smirking, Rachel walks right up to him and pokes him in the chest.

"They're all getting it wrong, by the way. Its not thoughts, its thots."

… What? Its not thoughts, its thoughts? What was the red head even talking about?

Before any of them can ask for clarification though, Rachel lets out a breathless sigh.

"Alright... gonna pass out now."

Her eyes then proceed to roll back in her head and she passes out on the spot, collapsing forward into Percy's arms where the demigod does catch her thankfully. Though at least Percy looks just as baffled by the whole exchange as Zoe feels. And nobody else looks like they know what's going on either.

… But they had confirmation of where Lady Artemis was and what she was having to endure. So all that was left now… was to save Zoe's Mistress and put an end to her father's scheming.

-x-X-x-

The Vote:

[X] Switch back to Percy's POV - 57%[ ] Stick with Zoe's POV - 43%

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