A/N: Just a warning, there's a reference to sexual activities in the beginning of this chapter. Not so much that it deserves a rating increase, but I just want to warn you all incase some of you want to avoid that sort of thing. If you want to read it, just go past paragraphs two and twelve.

The Keeper

Chapter Three: Charges

He retuned to the palace hours later, drained. He had spent his time in Asphodel, watching as the wayward spirits wandered back and forth, completely unaware of what they were doing or where they were. Poor things.

He found Melinoe in her bedchamber. She had barely exchanged a greeting with him before his lips were on hers, pressing her down onto the bed. He made love to her quickly, relishing in the feeling of her and her lips. When it was done she wrapped her arms around him, keeping him close as he lay on top of her naked chest.

"Something wrong?" she murmured, kissing the top of his head.

"I saw my sister," was all me said back.

She lifted her head to look down on him. "What?"

He didn't look up at her. "When I went to go get your siblings—"

"Stepsiblings," she corrected.

"Stepsiblings, whatever. Anyway, when I went to get them, the Hunters of Artemis were there, and she was leading them."

"Which one?"

"Zoe, the youngest." He felt a lump in his throat. "She wasn't supposed to be there; she should be on the mountain, in the Garden, playing with her sisters while Ladon watched over them." He stifled a sob. "I never should've left."

"Oh, honey," she cooed, holding him tighter. "Is there anything I can do?"

"There is one thing." Then he kissed her gently. She ran her fingers through his hair and moaned when he kissed along her neck. She kept her lips on his as they intertwined again, their bodies pressed as close together as possible. She reached up and took hold of one of his hands, intertwining their fingers.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too."

Hades came to him an hour later, opening the door silently. "I was afraid you'd be in here."

"You can't make me leave." Melinoe's hand was around his waist, keeping him close. Her chest was pressed against his back and she nuzzled her cheek against the back of his neck.

He sighed. "I suppose not. If I did, she'd only want you more."

"Why are you here, Lord Hades?"

"I have another assignment for you, if you're interested."

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Not at all."

Another sigh. "Give me a minute."

When he tried to crawl out of bed Melinoe grabbed his wrist. "Where are you going?" she asked, still dreary from sleep.

"Your father needs me, I'll be back soon."

"You'd better."

He leaned down and kissed her, then let her return to sleep.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked Hades in the throne room.

"My children will have a great role to play in the war to come; I need you to train them."

"Why can't you or the Furies do it?"

"Because I have an entire realm to run and the Furies would simply scare them. If you were to do it, they would be more accepting and amicable to you."

Yet another sigh. "Where are they?"

-o-

He met Bianca and Nico in the gym. They were standing by the weights in simple black athletic clothes, black swords at their hips.

"Good morning," he said when he approached.

Bianca jumped. "Oh, it's you," she said, voice low.

"How's it been? Finding out everything, I mean."

"It's been…"

"…awesome!" Nico finished, smiling widely.

Bianca shot him an exasperated look. "Sorry about him; he thinks this is some game like his cards. Mythomania or something."

"Mythomagic!" he corrected, scowling.

He looks just like his father… "Hades said he wanted me to train you two. I assume you don't have any formal training?"

"Uh-uh," Bianca said.

Agon nodded, unsurprised. "I figured. One of you, step onto the mat and we can get started."

Bianca stepped onto the large black mat in the center of the room, both hands holding her sword. Agon pulled off his shirt and threw it onto one of the weight racks.

"What are you doing?" Bianca asked suddenly.

"Hmm?" Agon looked down. "Uh, getting ready to help you train."

Bianca was blood-red now. "Well, I mean, okay, but, uh, did you really need to, you know, take your shirt off?"

Agon cocked his head. "I get sweaty when I train, and I don't want my shirt sticking to me or to smell after we're done." He smiled a little. "Don't tell me you've never seen a guy without a shirt before."

"Well, I mean, I have, but it was Nico, so it didn't really count."

"Hey!"

Agon gave an amused smile. "Just keep your eyes on my face, don't look below my neck, got it?"

She swallowed. "Got it. Aaron, right?"

"Agon. Aye-gone. Say it back to me."

"Aye-gone. That right?"

"Mm-hmm." He held his hand out and a long spear appeared in his hand made of Australian Buloke with a tip of stygian iron.* The wood was smooth and supple, and not likely to break if hit with a sword or arrows. He owned a shield of the same material, though he doubted it would be necessary for training.

"You're holding the sword wrong," he said, pointing with his spear.

"What?" Bianca asked, lost.

"That's a common longsword; you only need one hand to hold it."

"But it's heavy," she whined.

"It's as heavy as it needs to be," Agon explained. "If it were any lighter you wouldn't have a sturdy grip and your opponent would be able to knock it away."

"Fine." She blew a piece of hair out of her eyes. "Aren't you going to use a sword?"

He shook his head. "I haven't used a sword in…a long time." Not since Riptide. "And not everyone you meet will be using a sword. It would be best to learn how to adapt to other weaponry. Besides, your brother has a sword; when you two train together you will learn how to fight sword on sword."

"Oh, um, okay."

"Ready? Here I come."

He dashed forward, then slid to the side. Bianca turned quickly, but her sword was pushed out of the way by Agon's spear, and she was too slow to avoid his shaft as it hit her in the head. She fell.

"Bianca!" Nico cried.

"OW!" she cried, holding her head. "What was that for?"

"I said I was coming!"

"But you didn't say you were gonna hit me!"

"We're training, I'm not gonna walk you through it. You'll learn better if you get hurt a few times rather than me taking it slow and steady. No pain, no gain, after all."

She pulled herself to her feet. There was a pump forming where he had hit her, and it looked like there were tears in her eyes as well."

Maybe I'll go a little slower. "Feel free to move around as much as necessary, just don't leave the mat. Ready? One, two three."

He charged again. Bianca blocked the first strike, ducked under the shaft, cut up, then snapped back when he sent his spearpoint at her head in a feint attack. Agon jumped, sent the spear at her again, snapped it back, and rolled. She pivoted, keeping him in sight.

"Good, good," he said as he climbed to his feet. "Keep your legs parallel with your shoulders, and angle yourself so you're facing me side-on. There you go. Now you're a smaller target, less weak points. Don't just look at my eyes, look at my feet, my arms, see where I'm going to go before I move."

When he moved again, Bianca slashed at him, but Agon ducked under her blade, put his shaft under her legs and pushed, tripping her.

"You good?" he asked.

She was up a second later, hacking and slashing. Agon dropped his spear and backed away quickly, just barely missing the blade. As he reached the edge of the mat he threw himself sideways, rolling. He scooped up his spear and snapped it at Bianca's stomach as she raised her sword in an overhand strike. He stopped it a centimeter from skewering her.

"Dead," he said, smiling.

She scowled, though he thought he saw amusement in her eyes. "I almost had you."

"I let you almost get me." He leaned on his spear. "But that was good. Give it a few more months, and you might be able to graze me."

She scoffed but smiled.

"Nico," Agon called over his shoulder, "you wanna try?"

"Yeah!"

They spent the rest of the day sparring back and forth, trading off, Bianca then Nico, then back to Bianca again, then Nico. For the last hour or so Agon allowed them to train against each other, pointing out mistakes or hinting at possible maneuvers they could try.

"Good job, guys," Agon said when they were done, all sweaty and bruised. "Here." He tossed them each an ambrosia bar. "Food of the gods, it'll heal almost all your injuries if taken in moderation."

"Thanks!" Nico said, biting down vehemently. Already his bruises were fading.

"Same time tomorrow?" he asked.

"Ugh," Bianca said, though it sounded insincere. "Really?"

Agon nodded. "Yep, though if you don't want to Nico and I can train by ourselves. But by then he might be better than you."

"I'll be here," she said, determined.

Agon smiled. "I'm sure you will."

-o-

The next week was spent training Bianca and Nico, who seemed to take to the sword as though they were born to do so. While still not experts by any means, they were able to hold their own for a short while without getting winded. Sometimes Lord Hades would join them as well, though not for very long. Cerberus enjoyed them as well, and the hellhounds would always whine and sniff at them for table scraps.

The peaceful mood around the castle was broken when Lord Hades called Agon into his throne room one day.

"My lord," Agon said, kneeling before the throne, "you summoned me?"

"Indeed I did," Hades said. "There has been some…troubling news from Olympus."

"Oh?" What, has Zeus fathered another child and broken his oath…again? "What's the problem?"

"Artemis has gone missing."

Agon lurched to his feet. "And Zoe? Where is—"

Hades cut him off with a hand. "She is well, though troubled. That is actually why I have summoned you. She plans on leading a quest to retrieve Artemis and return her to Olympus by the solstice. If Artemis is not there, the Council will do nothing about the coming threat of the Titans. Er, the other Titans."

Agon crossed his arms. "Why should I care if Artemis is returned or not?"

"You should not. Though you do care for your sister, no?"

Agon scowled. "Of course I do, how could you even doubt that?"

"Then that is why you should go. If not for Artemis, then for her. The Titans have taken Artemis and are likely holding her in a secure location. The quest group will likely be heading right into a trap. If you are close at hand, you can protect her from harm."

"And how will I do that? I can't very well show up at…where are they meeting?"

"Camp Half-Blood."

"Thanks. I can't very well show up at Camp Half-Blood as myself. I very much doubt a Titan would be welcome. Not to mention Zoe would likely never forgive me for leaving." He said the last part in a low whisper.

"Ah, but you already have the answer," said Hades. "The necklace that Hecate gave you will hide your true self until you take it off. All you would have to do is manipulate the Mist a little and I'm sure they'll let you join."

Agon chewed on that. "When will I leave?" he asked after a moment.

"As soon as you are ready."

Agon pulled the necklace out of thin air and fastened it around his neck. "Okay, I'm…Aaron Hennessey, son of Hecate. You'll get her to vouch for me if the need arises, won't you?"

Hades inclined his head. "I will."

"Great," Agon—Aaron—mumbled. "Off to Camp Half-Blood. Woop-dee-freaking-doo-dah."

* Australian Buloke is the strongest wood in the world, so I figured it would be useful when fighting things like monsters and Titans who use mystical metals like celestial bronze.

A/N: I've set up a poll on my profile for which story I should write next. Since this story will be on the shorter side (only about ten-fifteen chapters), I want to know which story idea you guys would be interested in me writing about. A few plot details might be changed depending on how I think the story could be better, but it shouldn't vary too much from the description given on the poll.

Thanks for reading, leave lots of reviews, and have a wonderful day.

Bye!