Hey everyone, I'm back, finally. So, quick update on what I've been up to and why I've been gone so long. So I went and joined the Army, had to leave for basic and AIT, I'm at my duty station now, and settled in, so don't worry, I shouldn't disappear on you guys like that again. But I did work out a pretty decent system, and got all of this story planned out and a good chunk of it actually written while I was in training in this notebook I went and bought at the troop store, so updates should come fairly quickly, there's a few parts here and there that I'd like to change maybe, and some of it's not written at all, but I've got a basic layout to go off of, and so without any further rambling, we'll get on into it.

Chapter 1: The first victory

Antonio:

"I think we pissed it off!" I called to Raven, ducking as a column of fire passed over my head

"I'd say it's mildly upset!" He called back

What were we doing? Well, nothing out of the ordinary, just helping Hecate, the goddess of magic, recapture a Chimera that had escaped from her in exchange for information she may have had about Circe and what she was up to. What exactly was she doing keeping one locked up? Hell if I know, but I did intend to ask about it once we'd gotten this little mess sorted out.

I moved from my hiding spot as the Chimera took off, flying above us and landing on the other side of the construction yard, planting it's paws firmly in the ground, preparing to attack again.

This time, however, Raven was ready for it, already in place behind a stack of cinder blocks. While it's attention was focused on me, Raven came from behind, taking a swing at it's tail, aiming to deprive it of one of it's weapons. The snake, which was the tail, spotted him and lashed out, narrowly missing his neck, alerting the Chimera to the threat behind it. It turned, but Raven let out a high pitched whistle, and a loud bark was heard as a flash of white fur rushed from the other side, jumping into the air and landing on top of the Chimera, sinking it's teeth into it's neck.

While the Chimera was distracted with Jello, Raven's ever faithful canine companion, the two of us moved simultaneously, rushing the sides and hoping to take out the feet, at least, that's what I was aiming for. The Chimera whipped itself around, causing Jello to lose her grip and tumble to the ground, dashing away as the snake lashed out at the dirt. Raven managed to get a lucky strike in, cutting the side, causing it to roar in pain. Unfortunately for me, that roar came with a lot of flames, forcing me to roll in the opposite direction to avoid being turned extra crispy.

"Watch it!" I yelled, dodging a claw

"Sorry!" He replied

I backed away quickly, keeping my sword leveled just in case it jumped, but, instead, it turned back to Raven, who was attempting to take off one of the wings. He narrowly avoided having a chunk taking out of his leg as the Chimera snapped at him, tasting nothing but air and becoming even more irritated.

"Tas!" I tried again, not expecting it to work

Again, bonds began to form around the Chimera, but, just as quickly as they appeared, it breathed a column of fire and burned them away before they even had a chance to tighten around it. It did slow it down enough for Jello to rush in, bite a leg, and run away again. The Chimera shrieked in pain, turning so that it's snake tail could take a strike at Jello, but she was already long gone.

"Look out!" Raven screamed

I turned, just in time, as the Chimera rushed me, using it's wings to give it a bit extra force as it bore down on top of me. I took another swing, clipping a wing and saving myself as it knocked the Chimera off balance. We'd done a little bit of damage, but hardly enough to actually take the thing out of the fight, and I was beginning to wonder if it would even be possible for us to fulfill Hecate's wish to bring it back to her alive. I, at least, was trying. Raven, on the other hand, didn't really seem to care if he accidentally killed the thing or not, he was just trying to survive, or having the time of his life, I couldn't really figure out which one.

"Ha-tep!" Raven tried for the third time, still to no avail

"How did Percy say he beat this thing?" I asked as Raven and I took cover together behind a stack of concrete

"He didn't, he took a dive off of the St. Louis arch," He recalled "Looks like we'll have to be innovative."

"Think you can distract it for a minute?" I asked, spotting a crane at the end of the yard

"Probably," He grunted "What'd you have in mind."

"Figured I'd take up a skilled trade." I said, nodding to the crane

"I am so glad we picked you up." He laughed, saying no more as he jumped from our hiding spot and rushed towards the Chimera

Jello followed closely on his heels, and together, the two of them kept the Chimera occupied while I slipped off towards the crane, praying that it didn't suddenly take an interest in me.

Fortunately, the Chimera was as stupid as it was smart. Like most monsters, it fought with tunnel vision, and elected to attack the closer, and most likely tastier, snack as opposed to looking around at the bigger picture, a trait found in most monsters, and one that had saved my skin on more than one occasion.

Not like I'm complaining.

I made a break for the crane, closing the distance in just a few seconds and diving behind the tracks, risking a peek over to make sure the Chimera was still focused on Raven. Thankfully, it was, and I slipped inside the crane, staring, dumbfounded at all the buttons inside, having no clue what to do.

"Of all the times I wish Leo was here." I grumbled, electing to click a giant red button

My guess paid off, and I felt the crane rumble to life. Unfortunately, the Chimera heard it as well, and turned to investigate the noise. Raven, realizing what it was looking at, quickly moved between us, no doubt trying to buy me time to figure out how exactly I was supposed to work this thing.

Jello continued to attack the ankles, snapping and biting where she could, and I looked back down at the controls, grabbing one of the levers and pulling it down. The crane spun all the way around, facing me in the opposite direction of the fight. I cursed myself and pushed the lever back, spinning me back to where I needed to be. I moved the other lever, dropping the crane arm just a little bit before pulling it back up.

Good, I'd found the only control I needed, now it was just a matter of could I kill the Chimera without smashing Raven or Jello in the process.

I pushed the first lever a little bit, adjusting the crane until I was nearly on top of the Chimera. Raven, noticing what I was doing, dove out of the way just as I pushed the second lever and the ball fell. The Chimera, poor bastard, looked up just in time to see it smash down on top of it.

The ground shook as the ball pushed into the Earth, sending up a cloud of dust and cracking the ground.

No fire breathing, snake tailed monsters climbed out from under it.

"Genius," Raven said admiringly as I got out of the cab "Hecate won't be happy, but genius nonetheless."

"Yeah, well," I shrugged, climbing down "Can't please everybody."

Suddenly, the wind picked up a little as my feet touched the ground. A small wisp of green mist danced through the air in front of us before landing on the ground in front of us, materializing into a woman before our very eyes. She wore a dark, sleeveless gown and stood taller than even me. Her hair was set in a high-set ponytail, and she carried a pair of torches in each hand.

Hecate, the goddess of magic.

"Lady Hecate," Raven said as the two of us knelt "We've done as you asked."

"Done as I asked?" She said, gaping at the crane ball in the ground "I asked you to capture it, not to kill it."

"Well it wasn't playing by the same rules," I told her "My apologies."

"Ugh," She groaned in frustration "Now I'll have to wait for it to reform again, do you know how long that could take."

"Who cares?" Raven grumbled "You're fucking immortal."

She either didn't hear him or ignored him, in either case, she sighed, waving for the two of us to rise before looking back at the Chimera, or, rather, where it had been just a few minutes before. She looked irritated, and I wondered if this was the time to speak up or not. Either way, I guess Raven wasn't waiting around to find out.

"I believe you have an end of the bargain to hold up." He said, clearing his throat

"Hold up?" She demanded, turning to face us "Why should I? You didn't hold up yours."

"Well, probably because the fate of the world is at stake or something," He replied, his expression not faltering "Sorry about the Chimera, but it couldn't be helped. You said you'd help us if we took care of it, in a way, we took care of it."

"I told you, what I know is only speculation," She argued "I can't even be sure of what I tell you."

"It's better than nothing," I said "It's been eight months, we need something to go off of."

"You'll need a lot more than something to go off of to pull this off," She sighed "You'd need a damned miracle."

"It starts with something, right?" Raven pointed out

"Very well," She finally agreed "From what I know of my daughter, and this potion, I would say she's attempting to use some sort of magic to bring back Ouranos."

"What exactly?" I asked her

"There's only one way I know of that even gives Ouranos the slightest chance of return," She said, her eyes taking a very foreboding look "And it's dark magic, very, very dark magic."

"What is it?" Raven asked her, raising his eyebrows

"Το πρωτογενές μυστήριο" She said

The translation came almost automatically to me. For some reason, even as I said the name, I felt a strange sense of fear, even though I didn't have a clue what any of this actually meant. But, just for a moment, the sky darkened, and the clouds seemed to grow agitated.

"The Primordial Sacrament." I translated

"Yes," Hecate nodded "One of the darkest, most evil forms of magic there is, due to the nature of it's casting."

"Nature of it's casting?" I asked, confused

"Combined with this potion, theoretically, it could bring anyone back from the very doorsteps of Oblivion," She said, sounding scared "The blood of the innocent, the flesh of the virgin, and a gift from the enemy."

"A gift from the enemy?" Raven asked, clearly caught off guard "What does that mean?"

"It could mean anything," She shrugged "If you so much as tossed a drachma into that cauldron, it could count."

"If that's all she needs," I wondered "Why has it been eight months?"

"Well, you can't just do all of that and viola, Ouranos rises," She said, smiling slightly "She needs to find the pieces of Ouranos' body in order for it to work."

"How can we stop it?" Raven asked her "There's got to be some way to counter that, right?"

"My dear boy," She said, as though it should've been obvious "You have to find the pieces before she does, or all will be lost."

Eli:

"Think that's it?" Justin asked me as we peered over the rocks

"It's gotta be," I whispered back "But I don't see Circe, or monsters."

"That campfire's still smoking," Justin noted "She can't be far."

Our orders were to find Circe, and then signal to Reyna, who was camped on the other side of the hill with a few hundred Romans. It should've been simple, except the camp was completely empty. I ran my hand through my hair and sighed, frustrated with the day's events. I'd spent months tracking her while Raven and Antonio worked on their end to find out what she was up to, and eight months had produced almost no results.

We'd finally caught a break, and a captured Draceana had revealed that she was camped up in the mountains outside of San Francisco. So far, the information had proved true up to this point, but she hadn't said anything about Circe moving out.

My thoughts drifted back to Kayla, as they often did when I found myself with a few moments to think. I hadn't talked to her in almost a week, hadn't seen her since the last time I had visited Camp Half-Blood, nearly three months prior. I was starting to find it pretty difficult to juggle a pregnant girlfriend and saving the world at the same time, but Kayla was understanding. Or, at least, she acted like she was. She was too good at covering up her emotions, even from me.

My mother had been...less than thrilled when I'd told her Kayla was pregnant, and Apollo even less so. But I hadn't been turned into a tree or barbecued extra crispy, so I figured that the two of them couldn't be too mad at me.

"We should check it out," Justin said, pulling me back to reality "Maybe they left tracks."

"I don't know," I said, looking around "It's too quiet, man, this feels like a setup."

"Everything feels like a setup to you," He said, rolling his eyes "C'mon."

Reluctantly, I followed him down the rocks and into the camp below us. When we reached the ground, we split up, heading off around either side of the camp, keeping our eyes peeled for hungry monsters. We made it inside the main camp without getting attacked, and I began to relax a little. If it was a trap, I'm sure they would've sprung it long before we got there.

If only I'd known...

"Check this out," I told Justin, indicating to some hoofprints I'd found "They head off that way."

"Good," He nodded "Let's follow them, once we find them, we'll signal for Reyna."

Without another word, I drew my bow, heading off down the path. Justin pulled out his spear and followed me, keeping his shield raised as he did so. I wasn't exactly sure how far ahead of us Circe had gotten, but I knew she had to be close.

Unfortunately, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching us. No matter how much I looked, I couldn't seem to see anything that even remotely resembled a threat, but every single hair on my neck was standing on end. I had a terrible feeling about this whole thing, but Romans don't shy away from a fight based on feelings.

Maybe we should start.

"There's something out here," I finally said, casting a glance over to Justin "I'm telling you, man, it's-"

Before I could finish the thought, I heard a low growl come from one of the bushes behind me. In a flash, on pure instinct alone, I turned, firing an arrow into the bush. I was rewarded with a thunk sound and a sharp yelp. Quickly, sensing others coming from behind trees and rocks, my bow turned back into my father's necklace, and I drew my knives as quickly as I could, turning just in time to cut a Hellhound out of the air as it jumped at me.

Justin smashed one in the face with his shield, impaling a second one with his spear at the same time. I kicked another one in the ribs, rolling out of the way as a second snapped the air where my foot had been a moment before. As I came up, I flung a ball of silver light into it's face, vaporizing it in an instance.

"Khe-fa!" I yelled, raising my hand towards a group of Hellhounds

As if struck by some invisible force, they flew backwards, tumbling down a ravine behind them and disappearing from view. Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded from the trees, and the Hellhounds stopped attacking. They retreated away from us, forming a circle around the two of us as more monsters began stepping out of the trees. Just as I was beginning to wonder where she was hiding, Circe stepped out of the horde, a cocky smile displayed on her face.

"Ah, son of Diana," She said conversationally "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Too long," I agreed "Reyna's missed you."

"Oh we'll see her before long," She grinned "Camp Jupiter will be in ruins soon, and I look forward to seeing Reyna's face as her home burns."

"How'd you feel about seeing her face today?" Justin snapped, reaching into his back pocket

He whipped out a flare gun, and before anyone could stop him, fire it straight into the air. Circe's face didn't change, but I could see in her eyes she wasn't keen to meet Reyna in battle again. Even broken, wounded, and exhausted, Reyna had put up a good fight against her, I wasn't exactly jealous of her opportunity to go against her at full strength.

"Call your little reinforcements," She snarled "They'll only find your bodies."

With those words, she jumped into attack mode, her monster horde following close behind her. I ducked an axe from a Cyclops and stabbed his ribs as I came up, cutting the throat of a Hellhound as I stood up. I went on the defensive, dodging, weaving, and ducking as fast as I could, planting a strike here and there when I could.

I hoped Reyna and the others were moving fast, because I couldn't keep this up forever. Justin, on the other hand, was like a one man army. Using his shield to block any incoming attacks and using his spear to take out monsters from a distance, it really was incredible to watch. Within five minutes, he was already eight kills ahead of me, but there were plenty more where they came from.

"Ghhaa!" A Telkhine shrieked as I plunged one of my knives into his chest

I blocked a sword from somewhere, rolling out of the way as a Hellhound came bounding through. Soon, Justin and I were backing away, doing our best to keep the monsters in front of us, but they surrounded us either way. We were now back to back, with the others nowhere in sight.

"Been a while since I've been in a situation like this." Justin said to me

"Really?" I grinned "I do this every week."

As the monsters moved closer, I extended my hand out, aiming in the general direction of Circe, and praying I found my mark. I didn't have high expectations, but history was filled with men who'd gotten a lucky shot in and turned the tides of a war in their favor.

"A'max!" I yelled

A column of flames appeared in front of us, swallowing twenty or thirty monsters in an instant. The others began to scatter as Circe went to work putting out the flames, but it was too late. I hadn't killed her, but I'd made an opening, and that's all I needed.

"Cover me." I told Justin

With that, I rushed through the flames, catching Circe off guard as she turned, swinging her staff and almost hitting me in the face. I ducked and rolled, coming up and taking two quick strikes at her ribs, which she dodged. She lashed out with her foot, kicking my ankle backwards and swinging her staff once more.

I used the momentum of the kick to roll off to the side, barely avoiding taking a large chunk of metal to the face, but still avoiding it nonetheless. Circe went on the complete offensive, swinging wildly and occasionally sending a ball of flames or lightning towards me. I was keeping her busy with relative ease, but she wasn't showing any signs of slowing down, and I wondered how long she'd be able to keep this up.

I found an opening and struck, scratching her shoulder and drawing a little blood, but she still didn't slow down. As she rushed me, I moved to the side, aiming to stab her leg, but she kicked my hand away with her other foot, knocking me off balance and forcing me backwards.

"You don't even know your own strength," She taunted me "I've had centuries of training, boy."

"Couldn't tell," I smirked "Face it, you're just an old, washed up bag of cheap magic tricks."

That got the reaction I was looking for. In a blind rage, she swung wildly, completely missing my head, which she had intended to hit, and giving me the opening I needed. At point blank range, I hit her with a blast of silver light, throwing her backwards and causing her to drop her staff.

I used the moment to check on Justin, who was keeping the monsters off of me just fine. Even better, I could hear the sound of blades clashing on the other side of their ranks, and I spotted the banner of the fifth and second cohorts, high in the air.

I turned back to Circe, closing the distance between us as she attempted to recover her staff, kneeing her in the face and sending her sprawling to her back. I had her beaten, I could feel it, she was moving much slower and very clearly in a lot of pain, still not fully recovered from the blast.

"Last chance," I said, hauling her to her feet and slamming her into a tree "Give me the potion, maybe I'll convince Reyna to spare your life."

"You may as well kill me," She spat "I'll tell you nothing."

"We'll see," I grinned, extending my hand "Tas!"

A coil of rope appeared and snaked it's way up her body, binding her where she was. I turned back to check on the battle, finding that most of the monsters were retreating off into the woods, dropping their weapons and screaming in panic. Reyna led the charge, bearing down on those who had chosen to stand their ground.

They didn't stand a chance.

I reached into the Duat, pulling some more rope out of my "safe" and bound Circe's hands and feet a little tighter, ensuring she wasn't going anywhere. As quickly as it started, the battle was slowing down with only a few Roman casualties as the rest of the monsters, who'd been so defiant moments before, retreated into the woods in panic.

"COWARDS!" Circe raged after them "LORD OURANOS WILL HAVE YOUR HEADS FOR THIS!"

I approached Reyna, who was helping one of the medics patch up a girl who'd taken an arrow to the shoulder. She looked up, raising her eyebrows but not saying a word. I knew exactly what she was asking me: Did it work? Did we get her?

In response, I moved aside and gestured behind me, letting her see Circe bound up and sitting against a rock a few yards away. Reyna smiled, clearly more than happy with the days events as she rose to her feet and approached the witch.

"Circe," She said, her face and voice returning to their normal, cold demeanor "I told you that you couldn't escape me."

"You are foolish," Circe spat at her "Ouranos will destroy you, all of you! You are powerless to stop him!"

"Even if he does manage to come back," Reyna growled getting down in her face "You won't live to see it. The senate will decide your fate, but, if I were you, I'd make your peace now."

"And why's that?" She demanded

"There are a great many in the Legion who call for your execution," Reyna told her, looking down on her with hate "I will be more than happy to oblige them."

Circe's face, again, didn't change, but I could see the fear in her eyes. It seemed, for the moment at least, we'd scored a victory, and a pretty big one at that. After a moment or two, Reyna turned away, waving to one of her other Centurions and I.

"Take her away!" She ordered

I hauled Circe to her feet and shoved her forward, loosening the spell on her feet so that she could walk, and boy did she have a lot of that to do, Camp Jupiter was at least eight or nine miles away.

I really could get used to this winning thing.