The Syndicate

Disclaimer: You know the drill. If not, well, I DO NOT OWN PJO! THE ONLY THING I DO OWN, IS MY LIFE!

A.N. So… yeah… not many reviews so I have no motivation to write… tis sad… anyways, for those of you who have read and the five reviewers, I think you want to know what's happening back at good ole CHB. So I'll have a little something in there about that… um…

Chapter 4: After.

Annabeth's POV

I glanced around camp. Nothing has changed in the past millennium. Camp was still camp, with its large number of cabins and its ever-growing population of demigods. I sighed. Another boring day on the job without that traitorous son of Poseidon. I still can't believe what he did though. Ares was still in Apollo's care even after all those years. He still hasn't pulled through, but he hasn't faded yet either, so that's good. Personally, I wouldn't mind if he faded. He wasn't important anyways. Some people believed that it wasn't Percy's fault that Ares got attacked. Some others thought that Percy himself was the one who poisoned Ares. Ares' previous Vanguard, Clarisse, was killed when the attack happened, displaying that someone skilled had to be the one who poisoned Ares.

I squeezed me eyes shut. Thinking about the past hurts my head. I looked around the camp once more before flashing to the Olympian council meeting. I reappeared at my mother's footsteps, where I took my usual seat and waited for the meeting to begin. I looked at the other current Vanguards.

There was Nico for Hades, Me for Athena, Thalia was with Artemis, Will Solace for Apollo, currently, it is Frank Zhang for Mars, or Ares, Jason Grace is for Hera, Leo Valdez for Hephaestus, Piper Mclean for Aphrodite, Travis and Connor for Hermes, with Dionysus is Pollux, his remaining demigod child, Demeter had Katie Gardner, Zeus had a kid named Zack Skye, and Poseidon's defender was a boy by the name of Westley Howell, commonly called West. West was the only demigod child of Poseidon to have known Percy before he was banished. Rumor has it that West was the one who got Percy kicked out, but none of the other Vanguards believe it, so the campers were too scared to voice their assumptions.

Well, the meeting's beginning now. I thought, while mentally prepping myself for a boring lecture.

West's POV

It's been so long since he left. I've been on the job since he was removed. I never wanted this. All I wanted was a family. I was thrown into the life of a demigod because of my father, though I do not despise him for this. The result of it was that I gained a new home and family at Camp Half Blood. I felt kind of honored to have a brother like Percy Jackson. He was a great brother and teacher. He would spend extra hours after meals with me to help me sharpen my skills. He would teach me how to handle different kinds of weapons, but for some reason, he never showed me how to use a bow. I found out why later on, but that's for next time. He taught me how to use my powers over water, as well as made me laugh when I was sad. He was like the older brother I never had when growing up. I loved it.

But then, Ares was attacked. Percy was blamed and removed from office, and I was thrust in to fill his role. After that, Percy became bitter at the gods. Refused to sacrifice food to them, wouldn't teach anymore. When I asked him to help me with my training, he agreed but never gave much effort. Then, he just disappeared one day.

I walked down towards the beach towards my personal spot. I gazed into the horizon as the remaining campers on the beach went on with their business. After Percy's disappearance, Chiron was extremely upset and anxious. Whenever I asked him about it, he told me not to worry about it. Since that day, however, he's doubled the camp's security and trained us harder for longer hours on end.

I sighed as I stared out at sea. I wish Percy was here. He would always be able to solve the problem.

Amber's POV

Fucking Christ. We have to face these faggots in a fight? They don't seem like much, but you never know with kids. They can be idiots or complete badasses on the battlefield. I glanced up at Void to see what he thought.

He wore an expressionless mask over his dark features. His eyes kept stealing glances at one profile that was thrown to the side; Athena's. I picked up the file and began reading through it carefully, so I wouldn't miss a single detail.

Name: Chase, Annabeth Minerva

Status: Made immortal at age 18. Immortal Vanguard of Athena

Appearance: Calculating grey eyes, strawberry blonde hair, well-built

Preferred Weapons: Dagger given to her by an old friend

Talents: Good with problems, quick thinking, uses verbal trickery

Description: A beautiful, smart blonde who uses quick thinking and mind games to throw you off balance. From there, she lashes out with a celestial bronze dagger. She is the twice Savior of Olympus and has courted Perseus (Percy) Jackson before he went rogue. Chase is a logical thinker who prefers observation before engaging battle. Quick to anger, Chase can be defeated by a surprise attack from an attacker who has no patterns in their movements. (Or so we believe).

I glanced up from the file. There was a bunch of other information in it, but I didn't need to read it. I knew that Void would want to be the one who defeated her.

3rd Person POV

Void quickly gathered the files and returned them to their spot leaving the other members to discuss battle plans.

"Should we single out certain gods or…" Jayden wondered out loud.

"Maybe, but we all want different gods, so I say we just burst into Olympus and burn some shit to the ground." Josh said.

"Fucking idiots…" Amber muttered.

Jasmine just smiled and held back a small laugh.

"You know Void. He probably thought of something already." Jasmine said. The others turned to the daughter of Rhea. They contemplated her idea before muttering to each other again.

"SILENCE!" Percy shouted. The room fell silent.

"Right now, we have the element of surprise. We need to use it effectively. They don't know who we are. They don't know what we're capable of. That gives us the advantage. We need to focus on our main threats. Targets include Artemis, Athena and Ares as well as Poseidon, Hades and Hestia. Hestia is peaceful, however, so she shall not be harmed unless she strikes first. Poseidon and Athena are mine." Percy stated.

The others nodded, seeing reason in Void's statement.

"We all know that Artemis has her hunters with her. Athena has her children, who can take over, and Ares is the same as Athena. Poseidon and Hades both have one demigod child each; however I want to save Poseidon for last." Percy continued.

The others began to ponder on the idea of the strongest Olympian.

"The minor gods have chosen to sit this war out, as they do not wish to honor the Olympians any longer, yet they do not want to be seen as traitors. However, some are siding with the Olympians, as they are the children of one for example, Phobos, Deimos, Triton, Hercules, etc. Our goal, is to strike fear into their hearts. Make them believe they are not safe. Now tell me; what are gods without their demigod children?" Percy inquired.

The others started to catch on.

"I want Jayden and Jasmine go attack Camp Jupiter and I want Josh and Amber to claim Camp Half Blood. I will be helping both teams with the leaders of the camps. Then I will announce our presence to the Olympians." Percy stated.

The others grinned. This would be their chance at success.

Meanwhile…

3rd Person POV (at Camp HalfBlood)

Will Solace glanced at the other immortal campers and Vanguards. He shuddered. As the child of the god of prophecy, Will gained the ability to sense when something bad was about to happen; although the gift was minor and the immortal Vanguardian could not tell what it was, he knew something was on its way.

Will shook his head to clear those thoughts as his boyfriend Nico, the Vanguardian of Hades, ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"Hey Sunshine." Nico greeted.

"Hey Bonehead." Will called back. Nico scowled.

"Bonehead… really… just no…" Nico shamed. Will laughed.

"Alright Lily. That's a wonderful job you've done there. Makes me and mom very proud to have you as a sister/daughter." Katie Gardner, the Vanguardian for Demeter, praised. Lily smiled a toothy grin towards her older sister.

"Thanks Katie!" Lily exclaimed. Lily ran off to play with some of her friends.

Katie glanced around camp. For the past couple years, monster activity was at an all-time low. Even still, Chiron and the other immortals pushed their siblings to constantly prepare for battle, as anything could happen in the fucked up world they lived in.

Katie turned towards the basketball courts and saw a singular Stoll running towards her.

"Fuck." Katie muttered as Travis ran up to her and gave her a big kiss.

"Hey Katie Bear." Travis cooed. Katie just smiled and shook her head.

"What do you wanna do now? Now that the campers are done their training for today. We could as Chiron to go out into the mortal world. I know a great restaurant nearby and was hoping to take you sometime." Travis breathed. Katie's grin grew wider.

"I would like that very much." She replied. Travis returned a goofy grin and raced off to ask Chiron.

Time Skip

« Bienvenue au le restaurant de l'amour. Comment puis-je vous aider? » The waiter asked the couple.

« Dans Anglais, si vous plait. » Katie asked politely. Travis looked lost.

"I am sorry madame. Please, welcome to the restaurant of love. May I help you?" The waiter repeated in English.

Soon, they were seated and began their meals while talking to each other animatedly.

Near the end of the meal, an IM popped up out of nowhere, scaring the two protectors. It was Will.

"Guys, come to Olympus quickly. Percy's back." Will practically shouted.

"What?!" Katie and Travis yelled, causing the other diners to turn their heads and stare at them. Thank gods for the mist. They thought together.

"Who found him?" Travis questioned.

"No one." Will announced. "He just wandered back up on Olympus."

"We'll be right there." Katie said before swiping through the air and ending the connection. She grabbed Travis' hand and dragged him to an empty alleyway so they could teleport to Olympus.

Olympus

Percy Jackson had returned.

Perseus Freaking Jackson.

The two time saviour of Olympus and the believed-to-be traitor has returned to Olympus on his own will.

When the last of the council and Vanguardians had arrived, they were surprised, but not overly surprised to see Percy bound in the center of the throne room. His head was hung low to hide his face.

He wore a torn black cloak giving him a rugged traveller look. His pale skin hung tightly to his bones, as if he had attempted starvation more than once. His skin was covered in scars and he was visibly shaking, whether it was from the beings in the room, fear or pain.

"no more… no more… Please no more…" Percy muttered softly while rocking back in forth.

Zeus slammed his master bolt down to begin the meeting. As soon as the weapon made contact with the ground, Percy slammed his head back and shrieked in pain and terror. Everyone was uneasy.

"Percy, my boy, where have you been?" Poseidon asked, not caring for Zeus' dramatics. Percy stopped shaking. He slowly turned his head towards the sea god.

Silence filled the air for a minute. Then five. Finally, Percy let out a laugh. Not a normal contagious laugh of joy, however. This laugh was empty and void of feeling. It was like a black hole attempting to suck all feelings of happiness out of the room. Many people shivered at the sound.

"Percy?" Annabeth inched closer. Percy stopped and glared at her.

"You." Percy wheezed. "You were once the person I held dearest in my heart. The one I could trust in when everything had gone to shit. And you played your role very well."

People looked at each other nervously, unsure of what to say or do.

"Yes. Yes you played your role very VERY well." Percy continued. "mmm…" he trailed off.

"Percy, I never stopped believing in you." Annabeth pleaded.

"LIES!" Percy shouted, causing everyone to jump. "Where were you when I was accused. Where were you when I was exiled. Where were you when everything… and I mean EVERYTHING, had got to SHIT? You were NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!"

Annabeth visibly flinched. Percy smiled. Not in a happy-go-lucky way. When a person gazed into his eyes, all they saw was hatred and thirst for pain and suffering.

"Since that day, I have learned… yes, I have learned a lot. I have learned to play my roles, even better than you have." He said directing this to the Vanguardians. Your actions have showed me that I was blind to what was before me. The gods aren't any better than the titans. In fact, they are worse. There is no talking with them." Percy stated. The gods looked down in shame.

"In the second titan war, the titans planned and worked together. Sure, they may have lost, but at least they pulled together. On the other hand, the gods were thrown into disarray. Dionysus was trapped at the camp, Hephaestus was angry at Ares for fucking his wife. Demeter hated Hades and there was no communication." Percy roared.

He began mumbling incoherent things.

"wh-what are you saying Percy." Apollo asked carefully.

"no. no no no no no. Percy Jackson is dead." The former Percy Jackson laughed.

"Then who are you?" Zeus asked.

"Me? I'm Void. I'm the guy that bad people call to help them take out worse people. Then I kill them too."

SOOOO SORRY THAT TOOK FOREVER! I was caught up in school and I FINALLY got a break to finish the chapter. I've also had writers block from all the essays I had to write for school. But here's a short chapter as a fresh start going into 2017. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a happy new year! See you next time! Hopefully it won't take too long!

- FlamingCowBlade777 (FCB)