Black as the Pit From Pole to Pole

Hey guys! I know, I know, it's been a while, I'm sorry. A lot of things going on in life- being fourteen ain't as easy as it looks, folks!- and I've been off FF for a while. But fear not, for this chapter shall deliver, if not all, at least some of the answers to your questions, chief among them being , 'whaddya mean, Olympian War series?' Read on, my good people, and despair!

The warrior drew his black sword. Raised it to the sky to mimic his opponent's.

He let out a breath. He was not going to come quietly.

Then, with a painful cry that stretched back through a year of pain and misery, he charged.

The son of Jupiter met the attack with his golden blade, and the two began to fight.

A swirl of darkness. Shadows reached from the ground toward the Pontifex, and the earth groaned beneath them.

"Leave your devil's tricks," Jason growled, and a bolt of lightning slammed from the sky into the son of Hades' sword.

"Remember..." he said to Jason. "Remember our quests? The monsters we fought, the hardships we conquered?"

"You can't put me off with memories."

"Oh, Jason, I'm not trying to put you off. I'm just-" he lunged. Jason just barely blocked it, the shock of the contact shaking his arms. "-trying to tell you-" he blocked an overhead slice from Jason and leaped forward. " - all the times we fougt monsters-" he stabbed viciously at an opening in the son of Jupiter's defense. "- I've always been holding back." The blonde man's eyes showed a sudden doubt. Nico stepped back. Raised his hand.

Jason never knew what hit him.

"Listen to me!"

The dark-haired man raged and roared. The only other man in the room with him, a blonde, young-looking man with a frown on his face, shook his head.

"Hear me, whoever you are. This war you speak of is in my past. I've put all that madness behind me. Whatever may be happening with the gods and your children... does not concern me. Leave me to my peace." He sighed. "I'm not as old as I look, either."

"At least do me the common courtesy of listening to my story."

"Then speak, immortal one. Then leave me."

The tall man's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. "We shall see... One year ago yesterday, the famed daughter of Bellona, the praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, was slain. Her killer was clever; he used powerful and ancient magics to conceal his deed from the eyes of both men and gods. But we decided that the killer was a son of Hades, a boy named Nico di Angelo. He was tried and convicted... and sentenced to death, and eternity in Asphodel, since his father threatened the gods if any worse punishment befell him."

"So far, this story seems simple and my attention unnecessary," the blonde man interrupted. "Have done."

"Silence, and it shall be the faster told. The boy evaded capture and escaped to the campers of Long Island. Some of them joined him and hindered his pursuers. Their parents, on observing the ensuing violence, joined ther children's cause for reasons yet unknown; they have separated themselves from the rest of Olympus."

"So you are on the verge of a civil war among the gods."

The dark-haired man nodded, his expression bleak. "And this madness will continue... until the son of Hades is killed."

The other man leaped to his feet. "That is what you came for?!" he shouted. "You seek to use my powers for your murderous purposes? Get out! I will have no blood on my hands."

The other man rose also, his expression just as angry. "You will not help us?" He asked, his voice low. "Your family? Have you fallen so low, Sander?"

"Speak not to me of honor and family," the younger man said. "You left all that behind when you tried to kill Nico. Get out." He raised his right hand. "I revoke the right of passage to you! Begone!"

The world swirled around the black haired god, and he saw only endless wasteland around him for miles.