Chapter 9

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 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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The next morning, the group of questers found themselves in a train yard near a ski town in the mountains as they stepped off the train. The group wandered out of the yard to find a sign stating that they were now in New Mexico.

They slowly made their way to the center of the town; this was a half-mile walk away from the train where they arrived. While walking, Percy decided to fill the group in on the conversation he had with Apollo the night before. According to Percy, Apollo suggested that they would need to find Nereus, the 'Old Man of the Sea', in San Francisco.

Soon they discover that no transportation will be able to take them to San Francisco. However, they found a coffee shop, so it was quickly decided that Zoe and Annabeth would go and buy coffee and food for the group, while the others would go to the nearby grocery store to ask for directions.

The cashier of the said store informed Percy and Thalia that there was no way out of the town without calling for a taxi or owning their car, neither one of these was an option as the taxi fare for all 6 of them would cost them an arm and a leg and of course, the group does not own any cars of their own.

Leaving the store, Thalia decided to go ask the other store owners on her own, leaving Percy with the two huntresses. Skye took a moment before walking to the end of the street, needing a few moments on her own, while Percy and Bianca fell into an awkward conversation.

Skye allowed her mind to drift a bit, needing to think of a way out of this town as well as sending some of her emotional strength to Artemis. Skye felt a subconscious change in the air and knew something was about to happen.

She saw Zoe and Annabeth leaving the coffee shop, going over to them as Skye decided to inform them of her thoughts and instincts. "Hey guys; Zoe, I am going to cast the tracking spell again and you guys should get your weapons out." She said to the two just as Percy and Bianca joined them.

"Why would we need our weapons?" Annabeth asked her, confused.

"Not sure. I just have this instinctual feeling that we will need our weapons. Don't ask how I know, as it is something I cannot explain." Skye said to Annabeth.

The group suddenly felt a breeze of warm springtime air enveloping them. It seemed to breathe life into the surrounding area, animating the lifeless birds on their coffee cups into real, living, flying birds. Skye quickly recognized the feel of Pan. The Lord of the Wild decided to aid them in their quest.

It was at that moment that Thalia decided to appear with a group of zombie warriors hot on her tail. It would seem that these zombies were hell-bent on hunting and hurting and/or killing them.

The rest of the group also quickly turned and ran, escaping to the edge of the town near a wooded area before they were forced to face these warriors.

The warriors soon surrounded the group, four zombies for each quester. These monsters were hell-bent to pin the questers in.

In Skye's opinion, the number of warriors was a huge overkill, really four warriors each - the General really wants them to fail or kill them. Either way, this was so not helping them.

Skye truly hoped that the gift Lord Pan sent would be here soon,43 but first they will need to defend and try to survive this fight. Percy and Skye were the first to charge the warriors. The scythe and sword made short work with the warriors, but of course, there had to be a catch as the warriors all regenerated into what they were before being hacked into small pieces.

The only one who made a difference in this battle was Bianca. She was the only one who was able to destroy these warriors, much to her and everyone's surprise.

It was then that the gift from Pan made its appearance. Ripping the trees and warriors in the surrounding area quite forcefully was probably the largest boar with wicked-looking tusks Skye had ever seen. It was the 'Erymanthian Boar'

"A blessing" - Annabeth cried out as the boar ripped a warrior away with one swipe of his massive head.

"How is that a blessing?" Bianca shouted in disbelief as the boar was about to charge them. "It wants to kill us!"

"Of course, it wants to kill us. It's wild!" Skye said in excitement before turning around to run from the charging boar; this was soon copied by the rest of the questers as the boar began to reach them in his charge.

They raced in front of the boar with all their strength. Percy and Thalia, unfortunately, ended up being separated from the group, as they were the boar's main targets. It would seem it disliked Thalia's Aegis shield a lot.

The remaining members of the group soon turned and followed all the distractions of uprooted, broken, and torn trees, knowing fully that this was the boar's doing, hoping that the other two were okay. Soon, the three huntresses and one camper found the other two campers alive and okay with a very stunned boar.

"We need to use this blessing," Annabeth stated as she helped Thalia stand.

"It would be unwise to ignore a god's help. We have to use it." Zoe agreed as they joined the rest of the campers.

"And how do you know that this is a blessing?" Thalia asked, a little irritated by this situation.

"This is our ride west," Skye explained to Thalia. "We will need to board it and ride it like you would a horse."

Percy seemed confused by this, still not sure how this was a blessing. "What is she talking about, and how can you be sure this is a blessing?" He asked Zoe, being the leader of the group, would have more knowledge about these things.

"Lord Pan supplied us with a way to the west, Percy. You felt the blessing in the air, I would imagine. It was the very air itself, the warm spring-like breeze that surrounded us even though it was winter here in the mountains." Zoe said to Percy, "Skye is correct. We will need to ride the boar like a horse, so climb on and make yourself comfortable."

The questers quickly climbed onto the boar's back before it noticed them again. Soon they were on their way to the west, with the boar charging forward being controlled with an apple that Skye enchanted to float before the boar's snout.

It was a few hours later, just as the sun began to set, that the group found themselves at the edge of a massive junkyard in the middle of the desert. They were forced to leave the boar a few moments ago as it refused to take them any further into this barren land.

Looking around, Skye noticed large pillars of scrap metal and other junk. There were old broken-down cars and a random freezer on the side of the yard before they even entered the junkyard.

The group decided that it would be best to rest for the night, believing that it would be unwise to wander through the junkyard in the dark. They soon found themselves around the cozy fire that they made for the evening, knowing fully that this would most likely be the only time that they could relax before finding more danger. It was during a conversation that the group became more surprised by Bianca's past. Having a bit of suspicion that Bianca might be well over seventy years old, they decided to ask a few more questions.

"Bianca, who was the last President of the United States of America?" Zoe asked.

"Roosevelt" - Bianca answers after a short time of thinking. Skye was not sure herself; considering that she was not up to date with the current political situation in a previously foreign country and for the fact that she was isolated for a few years. Looking around her, Skye noticed that the answers given by Bianca were incorrect by seeing the facial expressions of the group. Thinking back on her history, Skye knew that the last Roosevelt president she remembered was the one who was in power during and before World War Two.

Before the discussion about Bianca's age could continue, however, the surprise arrival of a white limousine interrupted them all.

Out of the limo stepped a huge, muscled man wearing heavy biker gear and wielding a sword that he pointed straight at Percy's throat. Behind his shades, Skye could only see burning fire and no eyes, and anger started to rise fast within her to an almost uncontrollable level. The anger was like waves of rage crashing into her, flooding her mind and clouding her reasoning. The only thing that kept her grounded was the thought of Lady Artemis.

"At ease, people." He said with a snap of his fingers. The group's weapons all fell to the ground, and the anger lessened ever so slightly.

"This is a friendly meeting." He said before looking at Percy, "Of course, I would like to kill you, but someone wants to see you and the hybrid instead. And I also make a habit not to behead any of my enemies in front of ladies."

"What do you want from her?" Zoe asked, stepping in front of Skye protectively.

"I doubt that she would want to speak to the like of you girl, so shoo." He said, flicking his fingers towards Zoe for her to move away. "Go find something else to do." The God of War sneered, and Skye felt her anger rising once again.

"We will not leave them along with you," Zoe stated, standing her ground against the God of War.

"Also, there is nothing here we could do." Annabeth pointed out.

Sighing at the group, Ares snapped his fingers again, causing a taco shop to appear out of nowhere. "Now leave us alone. We have some business to discuss!"

"Don't worry, we can handle ourselves," Percy said as he looked at Skye, who nodded in agreement.

"So, we will do it like this. Princess will go in there first. After that is your turn, understood?" Ares said at the two Demi's as the others slowly entered the Taco shop, looking concerned.

Nodding, Percy stepped into the limo while ignoring the insult he received from Ares, leaving the god and Skye alone outside. Waiting outside for Percy to finish, both Ares and Skye looked at each other every once in a while, as they tried to size each other up. Soon, they fell into a conversation about battle strategies and techniques. Ares also complemented Skye on how she handled the capture of the flag game and gave her some suggestions on how to improve her game in the future. After a few minutes of speaking with Ares, it became painfully clear to Skye that there was nothing else on his mind other than fighting and battle. All in all, he was not a very pleasant company to be in, but it was an enough distraction for her.

While talking to the god, Skye started to compare the only two Olympians she had met with each other. In other words, she was comparing the differences between Ares and Artemis. The first difference Skye could see was, to her, Ares was a brute, whereas Artemis was naturally graceful. The second thing she noticed was that Artemis seemed more level-headed, whereas Ares displayed an uncontrollable amount of rage. Lastly, Skye also believed that Artemis had a stronger aura around her than Ares did.

Skye's observation was soon interrupted when Percy stepped out of the limo and shuffled out of the way to allow her to enter the car. She quickly entered, leaving Percy to deal with Ares or join the others.

Sitting across from Skye was a goddess. That much was obvious, but Skye found that she could not focus on her face or her body, as it seemed that it was constantly shifting. The woman was certainly beautiful, but the auburn hair that the goddess's hair shifted into seemed to be a bit dull. The facial structure was not sharp enough and the silver eyes held no shine to it. It was like looking at a copy. It was a good copy, but to Skye, this copy was not good enough.

At first, Skye was not sure what the constant shifting was trying to accomplish until it settled. It was to show her the person who she was most attracted to, and this just confirmed to Skye and her beast that it was her Lady Artemis, something she subconsciously already knew.

"I don't really have something to talk to you about," - The woman in front of her smirked as she introduced herself as Aphrodite - "I just wanted to meet the person who will achieve the impossible in the coming future."

Skye knew she should be more suspicious about all of this, but she also knew that she would never receive a straight answer, especially from the goddess who has a history of hating her lady. She also knew that the gods see them all as pawns to manipulate to their will.

"You can go now. Soon I will have plans for you, but at the moment my focus is elsewhere. But know this: your life will not be easy and I will only want to help you." With that, she was dismissed from the limo. Feeling a little irritated, Skye turned and climbed out of the limo to rejoin her friends.

The next morning was still a few hours away when Skye finally returned to her friends. Deciding now would be the best time to get some rest, the group got into their sleeping bags that Zoe supplied and got comfortable for the night, after all, they would need to be well rested when they entered Hephaestus' junkyard which was filled with dangerous and deadly gadgets and trinkets, as Percy had learned from his talk with Aphrodite.

Laying comfortably on her back and gazing at the stars, Skye found her mind wandering onto everything she had experienced in her life, and how she came to join the hunt. Her life with the Dursleys started with hatred and loathing and ended with murder, but once she was away from that, she soon found the start of acceptance and family. 'Will they always be there for me or will I lose them like I lost mom and dad all those years ago.' Skye thought to herself, deciding to think about this more later, with a final gaze at the moon Skye closed her eyes and relaxed.

Soon, Skye let herself slip into the realms of Morpheus, leaving all her worries and doubts for another day and knowing that she is one step closer in finding her Lady and to see her a safe return to where she is needed.