Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Annabeth looked down, embarrassed. I noticed Dr. Chase was very careful not to say ran
away.
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"I decided to try melting some down to make bullet casings," he continued. "Just a little
experiment."
He said it like it was no big deal, but he had a gleam in his eye. I could understand all of a
sudden why Athena, Goddess of Crafts and Wisdom, had taken a liking to him. He was an excellent
mad scientist at heart.
"Dad…" Annabeth faltered.
"Annabeth, Percy," Thalia interrupted. Her voice was urgent. She and Artemis were kneeling
at Zoe's side, binding the huntress's wounds.
Annabeth and I ran over to help, but there wasn't much we could do. We had no ambrosia or
nectar. No regular medicine would help. It was dark, but I could see that Zoe didn't look good. She
was shivering, and the faint glow that usually hung around her was fading.
"Can't you heal her with magic?" I asked Artemis. "I mean… you're a goddess."
Artemis looked troubled. "Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut,
there is little I can do. But I can try."
She tried to set her hand on Zoe's side, but Zoe gripped her wrist. She looked into the
goddess's eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them.
"Have I… served thee well?" Zoe whispered.
"With great honor," Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants."
Zoe's face relaxed. "Rest. At last."
"I can try to heal the poison, my brave one."
But in that moment, I knew it wasn't just the poison that was killing her. It was her fath er's
final blow. Zoe had known all along that the Oracle's prophecy was about her: she would die by a
parent's hand. And yet she'd taken the quest anyway. She had chosen to save me, and Atlas's fury
had broken her inside.
She saw Thalia, and took her hand.
"I am sorry we argued," Zoe said. "We could have been sisters."
"It's my fault," Thalia said, blinking hard. "You were right about Luke, about heroes, men—
everything."
"Perhaps not all men," Zoe murmured. She smiled weakly at me. "Do you still have the
sword, Percy?"
I couldn't speak, but I brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. She grasped it
contentedly. "You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am
honored that you carry this sword."
A shudder ran through her body.
"Zoe—" I said.
"Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."
A tear trickled down Artemis's cheek. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."
"Stars," Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.
Thalia lowered her head. Annabeth gulped down a sob, and her father put his hands on her
shoulders. I watched as Artemis cupped her hand above Zoe's mouth and spoke a few words in
Ancient Greek. A silvery wisp of smoke exhaled from Zoe's lips and was caught in the hand of the
goddess. Zoe's body shimmered and disappeared.
Artemis stood, said a kind of blessing, breathed into her cupped hand and released the silver
dust to the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished.
For a moment I didn't see anything different. Then Annabeth gasped. Looking up in the sky, I
saw that the stars were brighter now. They made a pattern I had never noticed before—a gleaming
constellation that looked a lot like a girl's figure—a girl with a bow, running across the sky.
"Let the world honor you, my Huntress," Artemis said. "Live forever in the stars."
It wasn't easy saying our good-byes. The thunder and lightning were still boiling over Mount
Tamalpais in the north. Artemis was so upset she flickered with silver light. This made me nervous,
because if she suddenly lost control and appeared in her fully divine form, we would disintegrate by
looking at her.