XXX

Three days. It'd been three days after Gaia had been risen. After Leo had died. After the giants had been defeated. After Gaia had been destroyed. And nobody was doing well.

The Apollo campers were swamped with injured. The Ares campers were barely holding themselves together. The Aphrodite campers were reminiscent of hags. The Athena campers barely even looked at a book. The Dionysus campers could only slightly consume water. The Hunters could barely even look at one another, never mind a boy. The Hephaestus campers avoided the forge and Bunker Nine was out of the question. The Demeter campers forgot what cereal tasted like. The Hermes campers forgot how to prank or steal.

And then there were the specific demigods affected.

Nico di Angelo, Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson couldn't even get a wink of sleep without experiencing traumatic flashbacks of Tartarus. The son of Poseidon and daughter of Athena were hiding out in San Francisco with Percy's mother and stepfather and Annabeth' family. Nico had been hiding away.

Hazel Levesque, Piper McLean, Jason Grace and Frank Zhang never left their respective cabins.

Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano would never look at the Romans the same again.

And speaking of the Romans, they weren't doing any better than the Greek. They all tried to be friendly and keep the peace, but tensions were running high.

It was only a matter of time until someone snapped.

But nobody anticipated the next threat to arrive. And so quickly, at that.

XXX

Olympus had been in chains by the time someone had found them. Percy had asked a favour of Iris that nobody's Iris Messages would go through for a while. He and Annabeth needed to be alone, so they went to stay with Annabeth's family. Sally and Paul had been enthusiastic to get away from New York for a while.

It'd been Nico to get to them. "I had a dream," the boy announced, melting from the shadows.

Percy blinked. "About... Tar... that place?"

"No," Nico said. "Will found me. He forced me to sleep. And then I had a dream about a voice. I would've thought it was from down there but the place I was in... it was different from there." Annabeth bit her lip, obviously deep in thought. "The voice talked about an uprising and that the sky would rise again. I don't know what that means."

"Sky? Uprising?" Annabeth said. "Gaia is a Primordial. Kronos had been cut into pieces. So it wouldn't be impossible... he's had millennia, too."

"Wise Girl?" Percy asked. Annabeth was frowning, before she turned to her bed she'd yet to use for sleeping.

"We're all going to go to sleep. I'm not sure... but I have my suspicions. And gods do I hope I'm wrong."

Her suspicions proved correct. Unfortunately.

"The Sky will rise again," said a deep voice. "Those weak minions of mine... if only my 'dear' son and 'lovely' wife had similar ideals to me. Then perhaps mind control wouldn't have been necessary..."

Annabeth bit her lip. If this was who she thought it was... but... mind control? She wasn't sure. "Yes... yes sire," a voice squeaked. She recognised this voice. But what was Hyperion doing talking with him... if it was him. But his children hated him. It certainly explained why he sounded so terrified. "Mother and Kronos were stupid."

The dark voice chuckled again. "Indeed. As are you. Come here, son. I believe you are in need of a lesson for failure to defeat the miniscule little ant Percy Jackson."

"No! Father! Please!" She cringed at the sheer panic and terror his voice echoed. It was well known he (if it really was him, she didn't want to accept it) was abusive of his children. In fact, he was probably the only person Kronos feared. If Gaia hadn't pushed him to attack his father...

It was ironic that she pitied one of her enemies at this moment. Who know a millennia old titan could fear a being as much as Hyperion obviously did.

As Hyperion released a blood curdling scream, she jumped up in bed. Glancing down, she saw Percy and Nico sleeping peacefully, if not squirming. She sighed.

Could it be...?

Suddenly, Percy jumped up in bed. He gasped for air. "Annabeth..." he said, seeing her. "Did you...?"

"Have a dream? Yes. What was your dream?"

Percy drew in a deep breath. "It was him. Tar-... Tarturas. And he warned me."

XXX

The second Percy saw him, Tartarus, again, he was rooted to the spot in fear. The being seemed to stare right through him.

"Perseus Jackson..." he shuddered. A monster using his full name was unnerving. This was simply terrifying. "There is not much time. He shall be resurrected momentarily and his hold over me will take over again."

"H-...he?" Percy could barely breathe. Even if this was only a dream. It was worse that he was alone.

"My brother. Gaia's husband. Tell your blonde friend. She'll understand. He is mind controlling us. Kronos, Gaia, myself. And he's rising. He will destroy everything. The Underworld, Olympus, the Sky and Earth. Nothing shall remain. You need to gather your troops and defend-"

Tartarus made a choking sound, before he net Percy's eyes, his eyes suddenly glowing an ominous icy blue. "Perseus Jackson." This was worse. This was much more terrifying. Percy was on the verge of a panic attack. He'd changed and he was worse.

"Olympus shall burn."

And with that, he awoke.

XXX

Nico came to shortly after Percy did, getting the gist of the story. He had just dreamed of the Underworld. Charon had been complaining when suddenly dozens of souls appeared, dead.

Dozens turned to hundreds. Hundreds to thousands. Thousands to ten thousands to hundreds of thousands. Millions to billions.

And suddenly the world's population was halved.

He didn't know what it was, but whatever had mind controlled, as Percy had claimed, Kronos and Gaia and Tartarus... had to be powerful. More than powerful.

When Percy finished his story, Nico said, "I had a dream, also. The population... it just... halved." Annabeth tensed, grabbing her bedside table and throwing it open. She grabbed her phone but she turned on live news coverage. There was nothing about sudden deaths.

"Have you felt anything?" Nico concentrated, but he felt no strong amount of deaths.

"No," he said. "But what does it mean?"

"We'll come back to it. I believe..." Annabeth glanced around, leaning forwards. "The primordial of the sky is behind this. I had a dream, as well. He talked about his wife and son not having the same ideals as him and mind control. Then he talked to another man, Hyperion, and the titan was terrified. I've never heard such a pitiful sound come from an immortal before.

Percy was frowning. "We have to go back, don't we?"

"Yes," he sighed. "Let's just hope the place isn't in flames by the time we get back."

XXX

Nico had essentially jinxed them.

When they came back, it was to a terrified Clarisse holding off at least a dozen monsters, just barely. Percy jumped forwards, assisting her in pulverizing the monsters.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked. She turned to camp and bit back a gasp. The place... it was on fire. The cabins were close to falling down and Thalia's pine tree was slashed in half. There were dozens wounded, and who knows how many dead.

Clarisse stared at them. "Where have you been? We were just attacked, wave after wave by monsters! The Romans just left a day ago! We could barely fight them off. I don't even know how we survived..."

Chiron galloped towards them. "We are to relocate to New Rome for the time being. Help heal the wounded... and collect the dead."

Biting back the lump forming in her throat, Annabeth stumbled towards the first body present. She almost screamed. It was... it was Grover! She looked at Percy with tearful eyes but he was watching someone else. Laying on the floor was Jason Grace... but weren't the Romans in New Rome?! Piper was slumped over him, shaking. That was the only sign she was alive.

And so many more were dead. Her siblings, Clarisse's siblings, Will's siblings, Katie's siblings, Travis's siblings. Everyone had lost something that day.

Little did they know that this wasn't even a quarter of their powers.

XXX

The next wave was the last. Yes, Ouranous had eradicated them in less than a week. This time, he'd appeared. This easily took out half of their already diminished troops. The Romans barely believed them when they told tales of the army which was stronger than any opponent any of them has ever faced times a million. Now they believed them.

Nico had been curled into a ball in the corner. Percy guessed he felt all of the deaths rather strongly. And he could only guess similar things were happening all over the world.

"Where are the gods?" he asked Annabeth. As the two of them had already faced the primordial which literally radiated terror, they could stand up straight. That couldn't be said about others.

"In chains," Ouranous boomed with a smirk. He wore casual clothing with sunglasses. Strange considering this guy was destroying them easily. "You mortals and gods stand no chance against me."

Maybe he was right. But Perseus Jackson could never go down without a fight.

Percy glanced at Annabeth momentarily, nodded, and sprinted towards the primordial, raising Riptide. Ouranous glanced at him, unimpressed. He backhanded Percy, sending him flying across the field. Percy hit his head, drifting in and out of consciousness.

Ouranous approached him, but Annabeth said, "it's true, then. You were mind controlling Kronos and Gaia. But how?" He smirked.

"They were easily fooled with a sense of false security while my essence was scattered. Gaia was easy to get to during her slumber and when I had the prophecy regarding Kronos' weak child defeat him, he was so paranoid that he left multiple chips in his armour." Annabeth's mind seemed to be spinning. Or perhaps that was Percy's. He rubbed his skull, struggling to stand.

Annabeth glared at Ouranous, seeming to ascertain something as she glanced at Percy. "And your lack of charisma couldn't convince them to join you of their own wills?" Her voice was sickly sweet. Percy managed to stand straight. He stumbled forwards.

Ouranous' eye twitched. He began to glow and advanced towards Annabeth. "Your head will make a good accessory on my wall." Annabeth held her drakon bone sword in front of her.

"But, of course, you won't kill me using a weapon. You're not capable of accomplishing such a feat." Ouranous scowled, a sword materialising out of air. It looked like the sky.

"I know that you're baiting me," said Ouranous, readying his battle stance.

"But it's working," said Annabeth. She raised her sword to defend herself as the primordial of the sky began his assault.

Percy stopped breathing momentarily as he saw Annabeth fight. She was barely holding him off, and Annabeth was one of the best fighters he knew. He could only stare in horror at the daughter of Athena. He didn't spot how nearly every demigod present was picked off, one by one. Only himself, Nico and Annabeth remained. Only those who had visited Tartarus survived.

Then Ouranous managed to stab Annabeth in the arm. She stumbled backwards, clutching her bloodied arm in pain. Ouranous grinned in victory. "I was going easy on you, little demigod." He raised his sword up to attack Annabeth, but Percy was already sprinting at full speed. Riptide stabbed Ouranous in the gut.

The primordial stopped, glaring at the weapon which protruded from his gut. He grabbed the tip of the sword, swiftly and simply pulling it through. He held the bloodied hilt with an indifferent look.

"I made sure you three survived for a reason," he said. "Tartarus!"

And then, he appeared. Ouranous smirked. "Take them away."

Percy hated every second of the torture. They'd survived the longest, remaining in Tartarus and being tortured every second of it. Every knife wound, gun wound, sword wound, river wound, spear wound and arrow wound was fresh in his mind, almost as agonizing as the emotional wounds.

Finally, after sixty seven days, forty one minutes and thirty four seconds, Ouranous appeared once more.

And that was when they died.

XXX

Percy was sweating and shaking as he sat up. Why did he suddenly remember? It wasn't like he'd forgotten. He had buried all of the memories in the back of his mind. But, suddenly it all just flew at him.

He glanced around his room, noting that it was around six in the morning. Everyone would be up in an hour, anyways. Swinging out of bed, he stumbled into the bathroom. He grabbed a cup of water, splashing it on his face. Feeling re-energized, he refilled the glass and took a drink of water.

Going about his usual morning routine, quite slowly, Percy attempted to distract himself. He succeeded for a little while. When he was finally ready, Percy stopped. All of the memories, the pain, the torture, flew at him, full force. He sunk to the floor, tears beginning to stream down his face.

The door burst open and Annabeth ran inside. She was a mess and she was crying as she embraced him. They sat there in silence, crying and hugging for another twenty minutes. Then, simultaneously, they looked up.

"Nico."

XXX

Will, Rachel, Thalia and Reyna all entered the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Will slipped away easily. With Percy being the focus of the camp for destroying the Minotaur, it was easy to join the girls on their way to check on Nico. Percy had said he shouldn't be alone. If they were getting flashbacks, then Nico should be too. They were the last to survive, after all.

They bypassed security and met at Nico's room. They pushed the door open and a young boy with black hair and dark rings around his eyes sat on his bed, hunched over and trying not to cry. They all froze.

The first to move was Reyna, followed by Thalia and then Rachel. Will didn't budge. To see him in so much pain... it broke him. It broke his heart and his very spirit. But Will wouldn't abandon his friend.

He stumbled forwards, laying w hand on Nico's shoulder. He crouched in front of him. Will wrapped his hand around the older boy's wrist. "You haven't been eating," he whispered. Nico squirmed slightly.

Will pulled Nico away from the bed. His lack of nutrition gave Will the upper hand. "We're going out."

He met Rachel, Thalia and Reyna's eyes before turning back to Nico. "But Annabeth's plan-"

"Doctor's orders," Will said. Thalia grabbed Nico's other hand, nodding in agreement.

"I happen to know a great pizza place around here!"

XXX

Things progressed as they originally did. Annabeth gave him a tour, he was introduced to the Hermes cabin and he met Clarisse again. She telepathically said that his mother was fine, if not a little (lot) shaken.

The amusing part was when Clarisse's brother, John, decided that he'd have a go at giving him a swirly, Clarisse merely smirked and followed her siblings, Percy and Annabeth inside. Only the three of them were dry as they left the communal bathroom.

'"Pizza is sooo good,"' moaned Nico. Percy snorted, earning a weird look from a daughter of Aphrodite.

'"You're the Italian one. You should know this better than any of us."'

'"I've spent the last forty years in a hotel and casino," Nico said. Percy watched as Annabeth smirked.

'"The first pizza was made in 1889."'

'"Well... I plead the fifth!"'

'"Do you even know what that means?"'

'"No... but that is besides the point,"' said Nico.

Percy smiled. At least he was happy. Annabeth shared a similar expression. "You excited for Capture the Flag?"

"What's that?" he asked with a sly grin.

"Only the best game ever made," Annabeth said.

"Isn't that Quidditch?" Clarisse said. "I mean, people get much more injured in that than they do in a game which involves no maiming."

"Is Clarisse corrupting the new guy?" Luke approached them. "I must stop her!"

Percy grinned and said, "sorry, she already accomplished that."

Luke pouted, turning to Annabeth. "You teaching him words makes him sound smarter than he actually is."

"Hey!"

"Like I could ever date an idiot," Annabeth said. "He has his... moments of intelligence."

"Right, 'moments'." Luke used his fingers as air quotes.

"As much as I love mocking Percy, here comes Chiron," said Annabeth. The Centaur approached them.

"How are you settling in, Percy?"

"Alright," he said. "Everybody has been welcoming." Chiron raised an eyebrow.

"I heard about the bathroom incident," he said.

"Yeah," Percy blushed slightly at being called out. "Welcoming."

Chiron could only sigh. "You should be heading to your cabins. Dinner is soon." When nobody made to leave, he could only turn around and leave, with a chuckle they could barely hear.

"Does he hate us or...?"

"It's just you," said Clarisse. "Nobody likes you."

"I'd argue but our relatives have confirmed that."

"Annabeth! Again, with the words!"

"I'm not totally illiterate!"

'"Thalia! Save me, Percy is using big words!"'

'"Zeus! That is scary!"'

Annabeth could only grin at their antics. At times like these, she forgot the memories, the past. At times like these, she was happy.

(A/N What do you think? This is pretty filler, but at least I've added in memories. I needed to emphasize that Ouranous is pretty powerful. I think I'll have the Son of Poseidon revelation next chapter and start of quest straight after that. Should I get a Beta Reader? I don't really like editing, and I'm not sure. You know that kind of person who doesn't want to impose or be awkward and then ends up being awkward? Yeah, that's me. So I don't know if I should get a Beta. Also, did anyone see Endgame? I never cry at movies, but this was the only thing to accomplish that. But it was soooo goooood!)