Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.
Chapter 4: The Attack on CHB
Chaos P.O.V. (A/N: Chaos, as of right now, is a way for me to use 3rd p.o.v.; this is subject to change in the future installments of this trilogy).
The situation on Earth is a tense one. Poseidon and Zeus inadvertently unleashed their full power causing the face of the Earth to change. The storms, earthquakes, and tidal waves submersed huge portions of land: the subcontinent India is no longer visible neither are the majority of the islands in the Pacific. More than 2 billion mortals (a/n: this means only about 2 billion mortals remain; don't worry Sally Jackson is alive) died the day of the fight through the natural disasters. The mist, which protected the mortals from monster attacks in the past, shattered under the sudden massive influx of monsters escaping from Tartarus through the cracks created by Poseidon's earthquakes.
3 months after Day 0 (as mortals called the day Zeus and Poseidon fought) Chiron, in an attempt to manage the situation, created patrols in areas of major population throughout Pangaea. The patrols, until now, seemed to effectively quell the monster attacks and help the mortals understand how to respond. Although everything started out according to his plan, what Chiron didn't know is that Zeus manipulated the situation to his benefit.
Zeus was disgusted with how everything had panned out since the Battle for Olympus. He was tired of the idiot demi-gods doing what they pleased and the defiance of the other council members. He wished for a true monarchy so that he could be an actual King and not simply a leader of a council. He persuaded Hera, Ares and Artemis to side with him. To Hera he swore on the River Styx that he would never cheat on her again if she joined him. With a huge smile she joined him and helped convince her son and step-daughter. In turn Zeus offered Ares more power over the lives of mortals and promised to give Artemis a more complete retinue of hunters. In turn the two gods convinced Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Dionysus, and Demeter to join them; all these gods swore on the River Styx their fealty to Lord Zeus and to him alone. So when Chiron asked for volunteers for the patrols outside of the Camp all campers from Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Artemis' volunteered to leave camp under their parents' (in the hunters' case it was their Lady) direction. As the campers and hunters went to their designated areas they were told to set up command posts and recruit mortals with nothing left to live for, so that they could be trained to fight for Zeus.
Thousands of mortals flocked to Zeus' banner. Ares personally went down to the different camps and trained the mortals on how to fight with swords, spears, axes while Artemis and her hunters trained people on range weapons. Hephaestus and his children spent day and night in the forges, underneath what mountains still stood, working on weapons out of a mixture of steel and celestial bronze, so that the new troops would be outfit to kill any monsters, demi-gods and mortals that might get in their way. Aphrodite and Demeter, along with their children, were in charge of getting new warlords and other leaders to pledge their duty to Lord Zeus and his cause. Dionysus and his children worked on stocking different command centers with food.
While his allies worked with the mortals Zeus sought out Oceanus, Titan of Water, Sea, Lakes, Rivers, Oceans, Streams, and Ponds. Oceanus, in the Second Titan War, almost took Poseidon's throne, if it were not for Hades and Zeus all would have been lost for the God of Sea. But Zeus soon found that Poseidon and taken care of Oceanus after their fight. The day after Zeus and he had fought Poseidon woke Pontus and Thalassa, Primordial Gods of Sea. Poseidon, along with the primordial gods, destroyed Oceanus, sending him into the void. For their help Poseidon awarded them with reign over the deep sea. Frustrated, but not deterred, Zeus obtained Prometheus, Titan of Forethought and Krios, Titan of Stars and Constellations, Lord of the South, to ally themselves with him. He made both swear their fealty on the River Styx, then ordered them to gather a monster army that would be ready on Day 180.
The mortal army shaped up better than anyone could have expected. Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and Artemis's Lieutenant, was proud of her archers, some almost matched the hunters in accuracy and speed. Thalia never questioned the need to train the mortals. After the cataclysmic events of Day 0, the hunters couldn't handle all of the monsters that broke loose. Thalia witnessed firsthand the need to show the mortals how to defend themselves. However, she didn't understand why they were training an army. On Day 179, Thalia was graced with the presence of her father, Lord Zeus, and her patron Lady Artemis.
"Thalia, we must talk about what the purpose of the army," Artemis. Thalia quickly stood to attention, rapt with interest because of the different rumors that had been circling. Artemis continued, "The demi-gods of Camp Half-Blood and their parents have rebelled against Lord Zeus and are mounting an assault against Olympus. This force is meant to stop that attack before it begins. We, Father and I, wanted to make sure that you are with us before we begin this assault. We know you have many friends there and we hope this will not deter your resolve."
Thalia was speechless. Her mind was racing with thoughts about Annabeth, Nico, Will Solace, the Stolls, and Percy with whom she had made amends after the Battle of Olympus. She couldn't believe that they or their parents would really attempt to overthrow her father. She slowly looked at the grim expression worn by Zeus and Artemis, she did not want to betray them, but couldn't imagine hurting another demi-god. She started to say, "Are you sure this isn't one big misunderstanding. I mean, Lord Zeus Percy –"
Zeus immediately cut her off, "Do not mention that boy to me, daughter. Artemis, it appears that you are in need of a new lieutenant. Thalia is unfit to lead in this response to rebellion. Place her in Camp Zeta along with the other would-be rebels." Artemis looked sadly at Thalia, snapped her fingers and the tiara on Thalia's silver tiara disappeared. Thalia gasped as she reached for her head but soon felt her hands pulled behind her back by Phoebe and Chloe. Both of the huntresses looked at her with scowls, shaking their heads in unbelief that Thalia would not follow Artemis's lead. Celestial bronze handcuffs were put on her wrists and ankles and she was quickly ushered to Camp Zeta. No other demi-god or huntress knew why she left, but were told that she had passed away in a training accident.
Ares P.O.V.
New Sparta, Year 0 Day 180
Today is the day, the day of war. My whole body pulsed with excitement as I stood in my command center. All around me were buildings geared to war and destruction. Zeus allowed me to take a portion of Pangaea to re-create my favorite ancient city, Sparta. My children became the leaders of this land as mortals flocked to Zeus's and my banner. My children and I trained the new recruits in the true art of warfare: the spear, sword, shield, axe and other hand-to-hand weapons. There is nothing more desirable than gutting an opponent and hearing them scream for their mother in their last breath.
I located New Sparta in the Northeastern portion of the land; over the countries formally known as Russia, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Mongolia. The people here already knew a hard life and quickly became accustomed to the military life installed. From here I will lead my armies across Pangaea until we rule all the world, of course I will do as Father wishes, but that doesn't mean I can't establish dominance over the weak.
I could hear the drums of war begin to call out the march. My demi-god and moral army, The Great Beast as I liked to call it, formed up into their battalions; as of right now there were 10 battalions in all each totaling 1000 soldiers. My children led the way each a general in their own right leading the battalions; they are Demios (God of Fear), Phobos (God of Panic), Anteros (God of Requited Love), Eurytion, Sherman, Petro Stepanov, Stephanie Elverson, Derfel Cornsol, Lize Ivanova, and Zhu Wang. Unfortunately my favorite daughter, Clarisse LaRue, showed herself to be too weak to lead and found herself in Camp Zeta with other weak demi-gods, satyrs and nymphs.
The demi-god children of Dionysus, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Hephaestus were no longer in New Sparta because Zeus had sent them to their own cities, to continue doing what they do best which is not war. Those silly girls that Artemis has stayed to help with our ranged units; I am not too happy to have those little girls get in the way, but I instructed the troops to mow them down if they should get in the way.
The last drum beat ended; it was time to make my appearance by the gates. I quickly donned my blood-red armor that was dyed with real mortal blood. I put on my best for this day I would personally lead the entire army. I was going to enjoy establishing who the strongest would be in this new world order. I slipped on my boar's head helmet keeping on my wrap-around Oakley saving my eyes only for when we entered battle. As I stood in front of the Great Beast, Zeus hailed me from his chariot and pointed towards the north. I looked on the horizon and saw an army of monsters led by Prometheus, that little snake, and Krios. It seems dad really scared the piss out of them because behind them marched one of the biggest armies of monsters assembled since the Second Titan War. The army the crated consisted of Cyclopes, Laistrygonian Giants, Dracanae, Hellhounds, Empusai, drakons, giant scorpions, Kampe, the Manticore, Nemean Lion, Medusa, Stymphalion Birds, and of course the Minotaur.
My warriors shifted foot to foot in anticipation of joining the stupid creatures that would serve as cannon fodder before my troops entered to start any real battle. Although I detest the stupid monsters, I know they serve a purpose. Hell, I was the one that suggested we get them to decrease the casualties of the Great Beast. Zeus greeted the Titans then turned to me and motioned for me to address the armies. I simply nodded with a fiendish smile and then threw off my glasses. I caused the fire within my eyes to raze, I could see the shocked look of mortals and even my immortal children as a bonfire started within my eyes. As I looked upon them, then the monsters I felt my body begin to radiate with a red aura, my blood-cooled armor became a deeper shade of red. I raised my morning star and spear causing a hush to be instilled throughout the troops.
When all that could be heard was the wind making our armor clank at our sides I started to talk; at first it was a whisper but slowly my voice raised to a to the decibels inside a NBA arena during the playoffs, "Soldiers, Friends, Death-Bringers today we gather to fight for one cause, and one cause alone: DOMINATION and REVENGE. Our father, leader and life-giver Zeus has been wronged; that brat of Poseidon, his father, and their friends DARE defy his right to rule this world. He has been patient, kind, even merciful by withholding his wrath. But the time for being nice is no more. Today he unleashes his wrath: THE GREAT BESAT! WE GATHER THIS DAY TO MARK THE BEGINNING OF A NEW AGE, ONE OF RIGHT IS MIGHT, ONE THAT IS FOR OUR LORD AND KNG ZEUS, ONE THAT WILL BRING PROSPERITY, WEALTH, AND JOY TO US ALL!" Cheering burst out from my 10,000 soldiers and even a few of the monsters cheered; too bad we will kill all the monsters at the end of this I thought as an evil grin marked my face.
I set the pace for the entire army; next to me were the two titans, Prometheus and Krios. They tried talking to me, but I simply stared them down to a stunned silence. Krios nervously gripped his battle-axe, thinking I was going to hit him. "Don't worry punk. Lord Zeus says we have to play nice. Just don't get in my way on the battlefield," I snarled at him. He visibly gulped. Wimpy titans.
We made great time in the first day we covered ¾ of the distance needed to reach Camp Half Blood which was located in the far western portion of Pangaea. The plan we were planning on using is similar to Hitler's blitzkrieg of World War II. As we marched towards the Camp, I sent different battalions of the Great Beast to various city-centers throughout Pangaea. We only needed one battalion and the monster army to mop up the camp. As we made camp on the night of Day 180 I still had two battalions with me; the leaders were Petro, leader of the 3rd Battalion who named themselves the Thundering Third for they were my main berserker troops, the heavy infantry; and the other leader is Derfel: leader of 1st Battalion who aptly named themselves Magnificent Bastards. Both boys were 17 years old and had proven themselves in the Second Titan War and these past few months. Petro was a hulking 6'5", 250 lbs., built like a world class rugby player, whereas Derfel is only 5'8", 190 lbs. with lots of lean muscle (picture a wrestler). Both know their ways with weapons, but for some reason Derfel knows how to bring carnage to the battlefield with his dual blades and keep his head to give and relay commands. Petro on the other hand goes into berserker mode and hopes that his team follows which they usually do, but for Camp I would need Derfel's killer instinct and calm during the battle to issue and relay orders. I still saved Petro for this last leg because I wanted him to personally begin the siege on New Athens, Athena's preciously rebuilt city on the sea. I detest that bitch.
At 10 p.m. I gathered the leaders of the Great Beast, along with the Titans and Artemis, to explain the plan. Petro and Artemis, with her hunters, were to go to New Athens to begin laying siege or taking the city tonight. Artemis knew that Petro would lead the charge and she was to act as ranged support; I'm glad she already knows her place, in the back behind me. The rest of the army, Derfel and the monsters, were to rush to the Camp and attempt to break down the magical barriers. The best way to do this would be to use our demi-gods and mortals in an attempt to trick the campers to inviting them in. While they did this the monsters would take care of the demi-god patrols that surrounded the cities surrounding the camp. I looked at Prometheus and Krios, "You two and I will stay in the background ready to join the fray at a moment's notice. We don't want to tip off any other Olympians about a godly or Titan presence because they would join in which may turn this battle." Both curtly nodded, grimacing at the prospect being in my presence. Ha-ha, I'm going to enjoy this new world and the power granted to me.
"Father, are we to kill any who defy us or just simply incapacitate them?" asked Derfel. If it had been anyone else but him I would have killed them on the spot for displaying such weakness.
I smiled at my son, "Are you sure that you are not one of Athena's brats with all the thinking you do?" This caused a small chuckle to move around the room, as this was an ongoing joke around New Sparta because Derfel asked questioned constantly to make sure he had the correct battle strategy. I continued, "We take no prisoners, Lord Zeus's orders." Derfel simply nodded; even though he has lots of friends at the camp still, I know that he wouldn't disobey a direct order.
"Any other questions?" I asked menacingly. No one moved a muscle. "Good. Let's move out."
The Thundering Third quickly and quietly began their march south towards New Athens as the rest of us moved on towards Camp Half Blood; we were in a murderous mood for before us was the joy of battle, blood, guts and glory. Tonight would be a good night.
Chaos P.O.V.
Outskirts of Camp Half Blood
Year 0 Day 181, Time 1:30 am
The patrolling campers didn't know what hit them. The groups were a mix of Apollo, Athena and Hermes campers. The first to attack were a pack of hellhounds who found a group of 3 demi-gods walking down an alley. The first hound shadow traveled above a son of Apollo and landed on his right shoulder tearing off his arm, the dog was quickly dispatched by a knife wielding son of Nemesis, but the hounds soon overcame the other two demi-gods. Their mangled bodies made an excellent feast.
The other patrols soon realized an attack was happening as an increasing large amount of dracaena, giant, hell hounds and other monsters descended upon them. Annabeth Chase's unit, comprising of her half-brother Malcom, Nico Di Angelo, Will Solace, and six other campers, was waylaid by a group of Laistrygonian giants and three empousai. Annabeth assessed the situation and quickly position the five boys of the group against the giants while she and the other girls attacked the empousai. Annabeth slipped on her Yankees' cap, while invisible she snuck behind two of the Empousai and quickly cut their throats; as they turned to dust the sword of a daughter of Hermes caught the last Empousa in the groin, turning her to dust. Annabeth looked towards the boys and was relieved to see that they were all okay as Will Solace put a sonic arrow through the eye of the last giant. Covered in yellow dust they all looked at each other and silently agreed to make their way to camp which only lay a mile away.
As Annabeth's team raced towards Camp they were chased by the Nemean Lion and the Minotaur himself. Will and the other Apollo campers continued shooting arrows at the monsters but nothing stopped them. The Minotaur began hurling huge knives towards the small group and took down two of the campers. Annabeth gasped and started to turn, but Nico grabbed her, "There's nothing we can do for them. WE must warn camp!"
Annabeth looked forlornly towards the bodies as they were trampled upon by the Minotaur. She screamed at the hulking beast and hurled her knife at him hitting his upper thigh in between his armor. He simply grunted at her and pulled the knife out, in what seemed like a smile it licked the gore surrounding the knife and hurled it back at her. She did a quick juke movement to the side dodging the blade, but saw that it stuck into another camper. It was her half-brother Malcom; the knife protruded from his left shoulder blade and he was immediately hurtled twenty feet in front of the group. Annabeth and Nico rushed to her side as the Apollo and Hermes campers peppered the two hulking beasts with arrows as they stalked towards their prey.
Annabeth acted like a crazed person and seemed to have lost control of her emotions. She raced to Malcom's side and turned her little brother over and told him to wait for her in the fields of Elysium. Then she respectfully pulled the knife out of Malcom's back, picked up his sword and turned to stare down the Minotaur which was about 100 yards and closing on the group. Without thinking Annabeth began to spring towards the Minotaur, Nico tried to stop her, but she broke free of his grasp. The Minotaur made a bellowing moo, challenging Annabeth, and increased its speed knocking buildings, small cars and trees over as it raced towards her.
Nico looked on with depredation; if Annabeth died Percy would never forgive him. He looked at the other campers and yelled, "Time to do something stupid. Will, take care of that damn lion; shoot for its mouth and eyes." With that Nico disappeared in the shadows of the night, while Will and the other campers began notching the last of their arrows for the Lion.
The Minotaur and Annabeth were within 20 yards of one another when Nico stepped out of a shadow right next to the Minotaur. In one quick move he immobilized the giant beast by pulling its right leg into a shadow. The Minotaur reacted as if someone had lassoed a part of him and abruptly stopped in its charge and fell snout first into the ground. Nico sidestepped narrowly escaping the monsters fall, but the 7-foot shaft of the Minotaur's axe caught him in the midriff, knocking him down and breaking two ribs. As Nico lay in pain he watched the Minotaur, as if in slow motion, swing its axe overhead, causing a humming sound of death, preparing to bring it down for a blow that would cut Nico in half. "Great," he thought, "I will be even shorter now." He braced himself for death and thought of Bianca, Malcom, Charles, Silena, his mother and others he was about to join, but was quickly brought back to reality by a yellow dusted Annabeth, "I know you like living in Hades dead boy, but I don't think living there permanently really is your cup of tea. Besides whom will I have to help me realize that I was thinking irrationally?"
"Living in Hades isn't that bade, but I would miss the occasional misstep that a certain daughter of Athena makes. Besides who would watch Percy's back without me?" This remark earned him a quick shove in the back; they turned to help with the Nemean Lion, but were elated and saddened to see that only Will and two other children of Apollo remained. All three were fine except for Will who was holding a torn t-shirt to his claw raked face. As they got closer to him, they saw that his eye was no longer in the socket. "I guess the Lion lives by the Law of Moses: 'An eye for an eye'" He weakly remarked trying to lift the grim mood of the group.
The small patrol now only numbered five, half its members had passed away and they could hear the growls of hell hounds and mumblings of Cyclopes in the distance. They only had a half mile to go and began sprinting to make it to the barriers before the monster army caught up to them.
About 100 yards from camp the small group sensed that they were not being chased any more but were stopped abruptly in their tracks at the sight that was before them: a massive army milling at the foot of Half-Blood Hill. They weren't monsters or entirely made out of demi-gods. Will, with his one good eye, spotted a banner flying in the front of the army; the banner had a massive MB with to giant spears crossed behind it.
Annabeth gasped, "That symbol, behind the MB, was used by the ancient the city-state Sparta, but I don't know what the MB stands for or why this army is using it for that matter. "
"Maybe the Ares patrols that were out in Pangaea caught wind of the attack, gathered some forces and came here to help us." responded Nico.
This idea was quickly shot down by Annabeth, "No if that were the case, then they would be facing towards us rather than looking towards Thalia's tree. I suggest we take a wide berth as we make our way into camp" Everyone silently agreed and followed her lead. As they got to the top of the hill, Morgan (daughter of Apollo) pointed out a small group of 10 soldiers that now walked towards Thalia's tree. Peleus started huffing smoke in their direction. Morgan got all of a sudden got real excited and point towards the group of soldiers, "That's Derfel!", but before she could call his name they saw Chiron come over the barrier and hailed the group. Annabeth quickly donned her Yankees' cap and told everyone to go over to Chiron. As they got closer to Chiron and the Ares campers they could hear the conversation.
"Ho, heroes why have you left your posts and where did this army come from?" Chiron asked.
Derfel stepped a few feet in front of the others and made the 10 foot gap that separated Chiron and him a smaller distance. "We had reports of a huge gathering of monsters in this area, so we came as fast as we could, gathering up potential soldiers along the way."
Chiron looked baffled by this, exclaiming "What! We haven't received any reports of such kind. In fact, reports that we have received say that monster attacks have all but ceased except for our part of Pangaea. If what you say is true, then I must alert the campers that are asleep and recall the patrols."
"That won't be necessary sir. We've already handled the patrols. Also, we would prefer if the campers remained asleep as we took control of camp." Derfel coyly responded.
"What! What do you mean - - -"Chiron was cut off by the sound of two swords leaving their scabbards. Derfel slowly advanced towards him as the other nine members of his team unsheathed their weapons as well. Chiron, equipped with only his bow notched an arrow and shot at Derfel, but the arrow was expertly deflected by the son of Ares. Seeing that he was outnumbered, Chiron hadn't seen Annabeth's team to the south, began the countless incantations that were needed to seal off Camp from the unwanted visitors
"NO" screamed Derfel as he charged the centaur. His charge was abruptly stopped by a sonic arrow shot by Will. Even with one eye he still hit his mark. His shot was to merely stop their advance until they could figure out what was going on. Derfel looked to their small group and pointed towards them, shouting commands. Six children of Ares broke away from the attack against Chiron and started racing towards the other campers.
Will had a dangerous look in his one eye, turned to Morgan and Sam (the two remaining Apollo campers) and without emotion, said, "Shoot to kill. We'll ask questions later" The howling Ares soldiers were only 20 feet away and their shields were up, but this was not enough to stop Will and his siblings from taking down two of the maddened campers. Nico met the first soldier a hulking girl named Bridget that wielded a massive two-handed broadsword. As Nico dodged the attacks, he didn't dare trying to deflect them with his shield or sword because she was way stronger; he tried to gain an opening to stab her. Finally, after two minutes of dodging he was able to stab her knee, slicing the patella portion making her fall to the ground. HE turned to see Will hard pressed by the two remaining attackers, with his half-siblings dead or nearly dead next to him. Will was using his bow as a quarter staff in one hand a small dagger in the other to defend himself. Nico rushed to help him and sent the would-be attackers to Hades. Will was beyond tired his brother and sister dead; he had a cut across his forearm and his wounded eye was bleeding uncontrollably. Nico went and grabbed him before he fell to the ground and together they made their way towards the border.
While Nico and Will were attempting to fend off the other campers Annabeth used her invisibility to her advantage and was trying to even the odds for Chiron. She and Chiron fought side by side as Derfel and his siblings attacked with gusto, disregarding any small injuries their trainer and Annabeth inflicted.
Chiron saw that the main army, after seeing a portion of their leaders dead was gearing up to charge them. He looked at Annabeth, "Go my child. The barriers will hold them for a day, at least until Ares and whoever he is working with manages to break through. Get Percy, he will lead you all to safety. Tell him to contact his father and your mother. Keep Perseus safe, he is our one hope. You were always my favorite. Now go."
Annabeth at first protested then felt a hoof lift her up and over Thalia's tree next to Peleus. She landed sharply on a rock and could only watch as Derfel's dual blades hamstrung Chiron. Her trainer, mentor, and surrogate father fell to the grassy knoll and was killed mercilessly by campers he had helped train. Annabeth was too stunned to move. She watched as Derfel and his army advanced toward her but they were stopped by an invisible barrier. Derfel simply smiled and yelled, "We're coming for you owl brain and there's nothing you can do to stop us. Go and run to that sea kelp of a boyfriend. Tell him, he's next."
Annabeth stood gripping her dagger and took a battle stance as if she was going to charge him, but a bloody hand stopped her. She looked and saw Nico propping Will up. "Annabeth, we need you. We must alert the camp. Let's save our friends, we can't have let them die in vain."
She looked in the son of Hades' eyes and didn't see the usual smolder of death, but rather saw sorrow and despair. She nodded curtly and they walked down towards camp calling for all campers to gather by the beach. Finally they came to cabin three and called for Percy. Annabeth didn't know how he'd take it but she knew that only she could keep him calm enough to not charge head first after Derfel and those foul children of Ares.
Slowly, as the other campers frantically gathered around the beach, Nico, Will and she walked up to Cabin 3 and knocked on the door.
