Chapter 204 - The garden of the Hesperides

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

"Yes," Zoe said tightly.

"Why do they call it that?"

She was silent for almost a mile before answering. "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' right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides. "

"The General," Percy said. Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top. "What's going on up there? A storm?"

Zoe didn't answer. Drako got a feeling she knew what the clouds meant, and she didn't like it.

Drako's thoughts were precisely on The General. He knew already who he was, and the problem was how were they going to fight him.

"We have to concentrate," Thalia said. "The Mist is really strong here.��

As a monster of the higher calibre, a dragon, Drako didn't have any problem with The Mist. He was completely unaffected by it.

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

"Both."

The grey clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and they kept driving straight toward them. They were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliff, grass, rocks and fog.

Drako senses something down at the ocean as they passed the scenic curve.

"Hey, there's a boat there," he said. "A big white ship."

They all looked where Drako was signalling. Both Percy and Thalia opened their eyes wide.

"Luke's ship?" Percy shouted.

The Princess Andromeda, Luke's demon cruise ship, was docked at that beach. That's why he'd sent his ship all way down to the Panama Canal. It was the only way to sail it from the East Coast to California.

"We will have company then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos's army."

Suddenly, Drako sensed that something was wrong and shouted. "STOP THE CAR!"

Without question, Zoe slammed on the brakes. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"Out!" Thalia opened the door and pushed Percy out. They both rolled onto the pavement. Drako grabbed Bianca and did the same, protecting her from a sure death.

Lighting flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade.

When they opened their eyes, they were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.

Drako swallowed the taste of smoke out of his mouth and looked at Bianca. "Are you okay?"

The girl looked shocked, she got barely alive out of that explosion. "Yeah…"

Drako hadn't seen such a powerful lighting since the use of his Noble Phantasm Golden Drive. That was an attack that was aiming for their lives.

Drako searched for the rest of the group. It seem that all of them were alive, good thing.

"One shall perish by a parent's hand" she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?"

I took Drako a second to realize she was talking about her dad. But he had more important thinks to pay attention to right now.

"Oh, hey, that couldn't have been Zeus's lighting bolt. No way." Percy said.

"Whose, then?" Thalia demanded.

"I don't know. Zoe said Kronos's name. Maybe he—"

Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it."

"Wait," Percy said. "Where's Zoe? Zoe!"

Percy, Thalia and Bianca didn't now where she was.

"Zoe!" Bianca shouted.

Then, she appeared between them, pulling Bianca by her arm. "Silence, fools! Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"You mean we're here?"

"Very close," she said. "Follow me."

Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there.

"Concentrate on Zoe," Drako said. "Follow her, she knows where she is going."

When the fog cleared, they were still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred 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. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight, just like Drako had seen in his dream.

But there was where Drako found what he didn't wanted to find. The Dragon.

In the original DxD, the novels that Drako had read, Ladon was killed by Heracles on his eleventh quest. But Drako also knew the history of how Heracles received the apples, and he never fought Ladon.

Since he was now on the DxD world, Ladon should be dead. It was Rizevim the one who resurrected him using Valerie's powers. So… why? Why was the insomniac dragon in front of them right now?

If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place Drako had ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colours they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples, and not yellow golden apples like in the grocery store. Real golden apples.

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

Drako wanted to step right up and pluck one, except for the dragon coiled around the tree.

Now, it wasn't really a dragon like Drako. It wasn't as scary. The serpent's body was a thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than anyone could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together.

He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed.

Then, the shadows in front of them began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. Percy reached for Riptide, but Zoe stopped his hand.

Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. They were really beautiful, like her sister Zoe. They looked just like Zoe—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.

"Sisters," Zoe said.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see a half-blood and three Hunters. All of whom shall soon die."

"You've got it wrong." It was Percy who stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die."

The girls studied him. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson," one of them said.

"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."

"Who said I was a threat?"

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend."

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.

"And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."

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

"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoe said.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"

"There is no problem, I will take care of Ladon," Drako said.

"Wait! You can't!" Zoe said. "Remember the prophecy!"

"The hunter is right, you can't take down Ladon," the eldest Hesperid said. "Not even the gods dare to fight against him."

Yeah, Drako knew that.

Ladon is one the Evil Dragons*, dragons that are known to be more powerful than the Great Dragon Kings.

He shouldn't be alive, not with Valerie at Drako's home. Drako has already received his Fate Point. So… why is he here?

[Receiving a Fate Point doesn't mean that he is not going to resurrect]

Yeah, there are other means to resurrect a dragon. For example, Odin resurrected Fafnir after he was slayed by Siegfried. So, maybe, the Greek Gods had resurrected Ladon after he was slayed to continue his task of protecting the apple tree.

Drako saving Valerie had made a butterfly effect, altering the past of this world. Maybe Ladon is not an Evil Dragon anymore, but Drako was confident that he had the strength of one.

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Info!

Evil Dragons

Another class of Dragon that is first introduced in Volume 14.

The Evil Dragons (邪龍, Jaryū) are known to be more powerful than the Five Dragon Kings while the most powerful Evil Dragon in existence, Crom Cruach, is said to be as strong as a Heavenly Dragon. The Evil Dragons are stated to be the most vicious and brutal of all Dragons, all being dangerous battle maniacs that want to destroy everything including themselves. All Evil Dragons were considered as extinct before the beginning of the series. They are considered as "broken Dragons" and are feared by all the factions of the world due to their immense power and extremely savage brutality. Evil Dragons are considered nearly impossible to control as only Evil Gods and Malevolent Gods were able to control them in the past.

Evil Dragons can revive themselves naturally if a part of their soul remains. This process, however, consumes a large amount of time.

The Dragons of this class include: Crom Cruach, Azi Dahaka, Apophis, Grendel, Yamata no Orochi, Ladon and Nidhoggr.

Technically, Vritra is considered to be in this category as well, but he pales in comparison to their iniquity. Among the Evil Dragons, the ones that were the most brutal and stood at the top were: Crom Cruach, Azi Dahaka and Apophis.

Another 2 chapters coming!