Piper

If it wasn't for Tobias, Piper would've died.

Jason and Percy both charged each other but Tobias tackled her out of the way before the met in the center. They rolled to the edge of the road as she looked back, dazed and horrified as the boys crossed swords, bronze against gold. Sparks flew and their blades blurred, striking and parrying at high speed while the pavement shook. The first exchange took only a second but Piper could barely track their swords as they fought. The horses then pulled away from each other, Tempest thundering and Blackjack flapping his wings.

"Damn it!" Piper heard a Zing! and looked to see Tobias somehow had his sword in his right hand and it's sheath in his left. "Leave it to Gaea to pull this crap!"

"You can't fight them!" Piper said. "They're too good, you'll get killed!"

Tobias looked at her. "I'm not the one in danger." He looked back as the two were charging each other again and swinging their swords. Tobias suddenly blurred out of sight while the ground beneath his feet cracked, followed by a loud clang! Piper looked back to see him between the two demigods, blocking both their swords with his sheath and sword. The two demigods and Piper were shocked.

Tobias looked at them both with a frown. "I don't know what's wrong with you two, but I can't have you killing each other. Ha!" The two demigods were thrown off their mounts and skidded across the asphalt on their backs. Blackjack and Tempest both felt their riders leave their backs and reacted, the black pegasus running into the sunflower field while the storm spirit ran and dissolved into wind that rushed through the sunflowers.

Percy and Jason both got back their feets, neither one looking injured but their shirts were almost completely shredded in the back and their jeans were torn.

"You cannot stop us." Percy said.

"Step aside or we will kill you." Jason added.

"I'd like to see you try." Tobias snorted. "Piper, use your skill to find out what's going on."

"What?" Piper didn't know what skill he meant, but she didn't get a chance to ask when Jason and Percy decided to attack.

"Charmspeak them!" Tobias said before blocking the first swing from Percy. He parried and swung his sheath at percy's legs, forcing him to jump back.

"Oh!" Piper got it. "Uh, Percy, stop!"

The demigod's sword arm dipped but Jason didn't follow the order. He roared and lightning arced out of the clear blue sky. It ricocheted off his gladius and fired at Percy.

"No!" Tobias kicked Percy out of the way and took the lightning bolt straight to the chest, knocking him back onto the ground with the point of impact smoking. For a heart stopping moment Piper thought he was dead until there was a cough and smoke escaped from his mouth. "Ow." He wheezed out before slowly sitting up, his hair sticking up and sparking.

He looked up and his eyes widened. "Whoa!" He backflipped as Percy's sword sliced through the space his body had previously occupied, but he was forced to leave his sword and sheath behind as Percy pressed the attack, swinging his sword with unbelievable speed while Tobias dodged just as fast. Finally, he grabbed the wrist and twisted, forcing Percy to hunch over and drop his sword while Tobias wrapped his other arm around his neck.

"Piper! Get Jason!" Tobias wrestled Percy to the ground while Jason was charging them again.

"Jason, stop!" Piper yelled, desperation fueling her power.

Jason froze, his arm pulled back to swing. He looked at her, the gold in his eyes flickering uncertainly. "I cannot stop. One must die."

That voice wasn't right...it wasn't Gaea, but it wasn't Jason either. Whatever was using his mouth to speak was speaking haltingly, like English was its second language.

"Who are you?" Piper demanded while Tobias managed to get Percy face down on the pavement, his right knee pressing into his back. His right hand was keeping Percy's trapped behind him and his left was pressing the demigods head into the ground.

Jason's mouth twisted into a gruesome smile. "We are the eidolons. We will live again."

"Eidolons...?" Pipers mind raced, trying to remember the name from the monsters she had studied at Camp Half-Blood, but the term wasn't familiar. "You're-you're some sort of ghost?"

"He must die." Jason turned his attention back to the other two.

"Sorry Jason." Tobias lifted his left hand and pointed it at the son of Jupiter. Piper noticed the sheath he had dropped earlier lift and zoom at Jason's head, hitting it with a solid and nauseating clunk. He collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut.

"What did you do!?" Piper screamed.

"Don't worry, he's alive. Just unconscious." Tobias nodded back at Jason and, looking closely, Piper saw his chest was rising and falling. "Now..." The sheath flew into his free hand and he dropped the closed end a few inches from percy's nose. "What are you, and what do you want?"

"You will get nothing from me." Percy replied calmly. "You will not kill your friend."

Tobias glanced at Piper. She took a breath, getting her nerves back under control before she said firmly. "You're a spirit from the Underworld, aren't you? You're possessing Percy Jackson?" Her charmspeak would compel the spirit to answer their questions.

Percy sneered. "I will live again in this body. The Earth Mother has promised. I will go where I please, control whom I wish."

"That's what happened to Leo," Tobias guessed. "He was being controlled by one of you, wasn't he?"

The thing inside Percy laughed without humor. "You realize too late. You can trust no one, for we can posses anyone."

"And I think that's all we're going to get out of him." Tobias got off Percy and flipped him over before knocking him out with a swift punch between the eyes. He brushed off his jeans and flattened his hair. "Nice going Piper."

Piper looked down at the ground feeling a bit ashamed. She had been completely useless during that small skirmish while Tobias had almost gotten killed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" She looked up to see him looking confused, which confused her.

"I...I wasn't any help during that fight."

"You were helpful." Tobias held out his right hand, causing his sword to fly into it before he sheathed it. "You kept Jason distracted while I took care of Percy, if you hadn't done that things would've gotten much, much worse. Don't sell yourself short." He smiled and Piper smiled back, feeling a bit better.

"Now," the smile vanished from Tobias's face. "We have the problem of how we're going to get these two back to the ship, which is eight miles away."

Piper stopped smiling. She didn't know what else they could do, but carrying a knocked out heavy demigod eight miles in this sun did not sound fun. Sadly she didn't have a better idea until she heard some rustling in the sunflowers. They both looked to see Blackjack cautiously exiting the field.

"Hey Blackjack, good to see you." Tobias looked like he had an idea as he approached the horse and held out his hand, palm up. The horse sniffed it before looking at him. "Hey, think you can help us with something?"

It took a few minutes to check on both Percy and Jason to make sure they were ok. Jason's breathing and pulse were fine, but he had an ugly bruise on the back of his skull from where the sheath had hit him. Plus he had been recovering from a head injury, so there was that to consider. Percy was fine other then a small amount of swelling from where he had been punched. Both had minor scratches on their backs.

Piper mounted Blackjack while Tobias put both demigods on his back like saddle bags.

"What about you?" Piper asked. Blackjack couldn't carry more than three people.

"Hhmm..." Tobias looked out at the fields. "I wonder if..." He took a deep breath, stuck two fingers in his mouth. He then whistled long and loud, making Piper's ears ring and Blackjack's flick back. They both waited a few second before the air pressure dropped and turned cold. Piper spotted a familiar cyclone coming over the sunflowers before it reached them and formed back into Tempest.

"Ha! Neat, I didn't think that would work!" Tobias scratched the neck of the horse before mounting it like it was solid instead of wind. "Let's go."

The others were a little surprised when Piper came back on a pegasus with two unconscious demigods and Tobias was riding a wind spirit like it was perfectly normal. Tempest vanished after Tobias thanked him while Blackjack was tended to by Hazel and Frank. Annabeth and Leo helped get Piper and the boys to the sick bay.

"At this rate we're going to run out of ambrosia," Coach Hedge grumbled as he tended to their injuries. "How come I never get invited on these violent trips?"

Piper sat by Jason's side. She herself had been fine after a swig on nectar and water, but she was still worried about the boys. Tobias was being worried over by his girlfriends despite his protests he was fine.

"Leo," Piper said. "Are we ready to sail?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Set course for Atlanta. I'll explain later."

"But...ok." He hurried off.

Annabeth didn't argue with Piper either. She was too busy examining the by now large lump in between Percy's eyes.

"What hit him?" She demanded.

"That would be my fault." Tobias lifted his hand from one of the other beds where he was sitting.

"What?"

Piper and Tobias both tried to explain while Coach Hedge applied some healing paste to the boys' heads and backs. She'd had never been impressed with his nursing abilities before, but he must've done something right. Either that, or the spirits that had posses the boys simply made them more durable. They both groaned and opened their eyes.

Within a few minutes, Jason and Percy were sitting up and able to talk in complete sentences. Both had fuzzy memories what happened. When Piper described their duel on the highway, Jason winced.

"Knocked out twice in two days," he muttered. "Some demigod." He glanced sheepishly at Tobias. "Sorry, man. I didn't mean to blast you."

"Don't worry about. I've gotten hit with worse then a bolt of lightning." Tobias waved the apology aside. Piper then noticed something.

"How come your shirt isn't burnt?" The spot where he had been hit was blackened with soot, but other then that, it was completely unharmed.

"Durable material. You wouldn't believe the punishment this stuff can take."

"Still, we could've killed you." Percy said with a slight wince.

Yahan and Kazehana both snorted with amusement, drawing attention to them.

"You couldn't have killed him, not if he was serious." Yahan said a cocky smirk on her face.

"But he's not even a demigod. Even if he is fast, he would've lost eventually." Jason pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah, you both would've been great at killing me," Tobias cut off Yahan's response. "Now can we please get some food? I'm hungry, plus we need to talk about what Bacchus said. Some things don't-"

"Bacchus?" Annabeth raised her hand. "Ok, fine. We'll meet in the mess hall in ten to talk. I'll tell the others. And Percy... Change your clothes. You smell like a parking lot."

Leo gave the helm to Coach Hedge, after making the satyr promise he would not steer them to the nearest military base "for fun."

They gathered around the dining table, and Piper and Tobias explained what happened at the mile marker- their conversation with Bacchus, the trap sprung by Gaea, and the eidolons that possessed the boys.

"Of course!" Hazel slapped the table, which startled Frank so much, he dropped his burrito. "That's what happened to Leo too."

"So it wasn't my fault," Leo exhaled. "I didn't start World War Three, I just got possessed by an evil spirit. That's a relief!"

"But the Romans don't know that," Tobias pointed out. "And why would they take our word for it?"

"We could contact Reyna," Jason suggested. "She would believe us."

Hearing the way Jason said her name, like it was a lifeline to his past, made Piper's heart sink.

Jason turned to her with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. "You could convince her, Pipes. I know you could."

Piper felt like all the blood in her body was draining into her feet while Tobias rubbed his eyes. Annabeth looked at her sympathetically, as it to say: Boys are so clueless. Even Hazel, Kazehana, and Yahan winced.

"I could try," she said halfheartedly. "But Octavian is the one we need to worry about. In my dagger blade, I saw him taking control of the Roman crowd. I'm not sure Renya can stop him."

Jason's expression darkened. Piper didn't get any pleasure from bursting his bubble, but Hazel and Frank nodded in agreement."

"She's right." Frank said. "This afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. They were a long way off, but closing fast. Octavian is on the warpath."

Hazel grimaced. "This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has always wanted. He'll try to seize power and if Renya objects, he'll just say she's soft on the Greeks."

"This Octavian is sounding very similar to someone we know." Kazehana's expression darkened along with Yahan's.

"Sadly, he is similar to who you're thinking of." Tobias confirmed, making both girls hands tightened into fists. "But I want to know how those eagles keep finding us. They're like bloodhounds."

"They are," Jason said. "Roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. This ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely-not from them."

Leo drummed his fingers. "Great. I should've installed a smokescreen that makes the ship smell like a giant chicken nugget. Remind me to invent that, next time."

Hazel frowned. "What is a chicken nugget?"

"Not important." Tobias hurriedly cut off Leo. "The point is, the Romans would never believe that we didn't attack them purposefully. And even if they did, Octavian would just find some other excuse to attack us and Camp Half-Blood."

"You're right." Jason leaned forward. "We should just keep going. Once we're over the Atlantic, we'll be safe- at least from them." He sounded so depressed, Piper wasn't sure she felt sorry for him or resentful.

"Why would crossing an ocean be enough to stop them?" Yahan asked as she picked at her own plate of stir-fried rice and teriyaki.

"The ancient lands, where the gods and monsters originated, is considered a danger zone for demigods. It's where they were 'born,' " Tobias made quotes around the word. "And it's where they're strongest. It's been forbidden to go there for generations, and even Octavian can't get around a rule that's been enforced for that long and that fiercely."

Frank swallowed a bit of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his mouth. "So, if we go there..."

"Then we'll be outlaws as well as traitors." Jason nodded. "Any Roman demigod will have the right to kill us on sight. But I wouldn't worry about that. If we can cross the Atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us since they'll assume we'll die in the Mediterranean- the Mare Nostrum."

Percy pointed his pizza slice at Jason. "You, sir, are a ray of sunshine." Jason didn't argue and everyone else stared at their plates, except for Percy, Kazehana, and Yahan. They kept eating their food, but Piper had no clue where they were putting it all. They had appetites like satyr's.

"So let's plan ahead," Percy suggested. "And make sure we don't die. Mr. D-Bacchus- Ugh, do I have to call him Mr. B now? Anyway, he mentioned the twins in Ella's prophecy, two giants."

"Otis and Ephialtes." Tobias nodded.

"Twin giants, like Piper saw in her dagger..." Annabeth her finger around the rim of her cup. "I remember a story about twin giants. They tried to reach Mount Olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains."

"Oh great. We've got a power-hungry snake gunning for us and we're sailing to a place where we'll have to fight giants that can use mountains like building blocks." Yahan set her fork down with a sour look. "And you said that this guy Bacchus killed them with a pinecone on a stick?"

"Well at least it wasn't a jalapeño on a stick." Tobias chuckled like he had made some joke. "Anyway, yeah he apparently did. But he said he couldn't help us unless we made some sort of tribute, and he made it sound like it wasn't a tribute we could handle."

Silence fell around the table. Piper could hear the Coach above deck singing "Blow the Man Down," except he didn't know the lyrics so he mostly sang the beat. She couldn't shake the feeling that Bacchus was meant to help them. They giant twins were in Rome and keeping something they needed in that bronze jar. Whatever was in there, she had a feeling it was the key to sealing the Doors of Death- the key to endless death. They could never defeat them without Bacchus's help and if they didn't do that in five days, Rome would be destroyed and Hazel's brother, Nico, would die.

On the other hand, if the vision of him offering her a silver goblet was false, maybe the other visions wouldn't come true either- especially the one that had her, Percy, and Jason drowning. Maybe that was symbolic.

"Something is bugging me." Tobias suddenly spoke up. Piper looked to see him looking at the table with his arms crossed and eyebrows knit together. Everyone else looked at him as he continued. "When Gaea sprung that trap, she said she needed the blood of a male and female demigod. She asked Piper to choose who would die with her."

"That's disgusting." Kazehana said angrily.

"Yeah, well, Gaea isn't exactly cheerful and helpful like fairy tales would have you think, but that's not the point. My point is...why would a primordial goddess like her need blood from two demigods?"

Leo whistled softly. "Guys, remember at the Wolf House? Our favorite ice princess, Khione? She talked about spilling Jason's blood, how it would taint the place for generations. Maybe demigod blood has some kind of power."

"Oh..." Percy set down his third slice of pizza. He leaned back and stared at nothing, like that punch to the head had just registered.

"Percy?" Annabeth gripped his arm.

"Oh bad," he muttered. "Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad." He looked across the table at Frank and Hazel. "You guy remember Polybotes?"

"You mean the giant who invaded Camp Jupiter?" Hazel asked sarcastically. "The anti-Poseidon you whacked in the head with a Terminus statue? Yeah, I think I remember him."

"I had dream," Percy said. "When we flying to Alaska. Polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said- he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. He said: 'I want that one chained at my feet, so I can kill him when the time is right. His blood shall water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake Earth Mother!' "

Piper wondered if the temperature controls were broken, because suddenly she couldn't stop shaking. It was the same feeling she had gotten back at the mile marker, and she had the sudden sense there was more than nine people listening to this conversation. "You think the giants would use our blood- the blood of two of is-"

"We don't have enough information to make assumptions like that." Tobias said in a calm tone. "But until we figure out what she wants, I suggest we all avoid getting captured."

Jason grunted. "That I agree with."

"But how do we figure it out? Hazel asked. "The Mark of Athena, the twins, Ella's prophecy... How does it all fit together?"

Annabeth pressed her against against the edge of the table. "You and Piper told Leo to set our course for Atlanta."

"Right," Piper said. "Bacchus told us to seek out...what was his name?"

"Phorcys." Percy said, which made Annabeth look at him in surprise. Like she wasn't used to her boyfriend having the answers.

"You know him?"

Percy shrugged. "I didn't recognize the name at first, but then Bacchus mentioned salt water and it rang a bell. Phorcys is an old sea god from before my dad's time. I never met him, but I heard he's a son of Gaea. I still don't understand what a sea god would be doing in Atlanta."

Leo snorted. "What's a wine god doing in Kansas? Gods are weird. Anyway, we should reach Atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something else goes wrong."

"Don't even say that," Annabeth muttered. "It's getting late. We should all get some sleep."

"Wait." Piper spoke up.

Everyone looked at her, which made her confidence take a swan dive. She wondered if her instincts were wrong, but she forced herself to speak.

"There's one last thing. The eidolons, the possessing spirits. They're still here, in this room."

She couldn't explain how she knew that. Stories of phantoms and tortured souls had always freaked her out. Her dad used to joke about her Grandpa Tom's Cherokee legends from back on the Rez, but even at home in their big Malibu mansion, looking over the Pacific, whenever he told her ghost stories, they always stuck in her head. One thing she learned was that Cherokee spirits were restless, often losing their way to the Land of the Dead or staying behind out of sheer stubbornness. Sometimes they didn't even realize they were dead.

The more Piper learned about being a demigod, the more convinced she was that Cherokee ledge nods and Greek myths weren't so different. The eidolons acted a lot like the spirits in her dad's stories. And she had a gut sense they were still present, simply because no one had told them to go away. When she finished explaining, everyone looked at her uncomfortably. Up on deck, Hedge was singing something that sounded like "In the Navy" while Blackjack stomped his hooves, whinnying in protest.

Finally Hazel sighed. "Piper is right."

"How can you be sure?" Annabeth asked.

"I've met eidolons. In the Underworld, when I was...you know."

Dead.

Piper had forgotten that Hazel was a second timer. In her own way, Hazel was a ghost reborn too.

"I hope you have a plan Piper, because I think I speak for everyone when I say we want those things off this boat or out of us." Tobias said tensely, his arms tensed as well.

"I do. I just need everyone to listen." She took a deep breath before meeting their eyes, one person at a time.

"Eidolons," she said, using her charmspeak, "raise your hands."

There was a tense silence.

Leo laughed nervously. "Did you really think that was going to-?" His voice died and his face went slack. He raised his hand.

Jason and Percy did the same. Their eyes had turned glassy and gold. Hazel caught her breath. Next to Leo, Frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back to the wall while Tobias shot out of his to stand, glaring at Leo angrily. Or rather at the spirit using him.

"Oh, gods." Annabeth looked at Piper imploringly. "Can you cure them?"

Piper wanted to whimper and hide under the table, but she had to help Jason. She couldn't believe she had held hands with...No, she refused to think about it. She focused on Leo since he was the least intimidating.

"Are there more of you on this ship?" She asked.

"No," Leo said in a hollow tone. "The Earth Mother sent three. The strongest, the best. We will live again."

"Not here you won't," Piper growled. "All three of you, listen carefully."

Jason and Percy turned towards her. Those gold eyes were unnerving, but seeing the three boys like this fueled her anger.

"You will leave those bodies," she commanded.

"No," Percy said.

Leo let out a soft hiss, sounding like a snake. "We must live."

Frank fumbled for his bow. "Mars Almighty, that's creepy! Get out of here, spirits! Leave our friends alone!"

Leo turned towards him. "You cannot command us, child of war. Your own life is fragile. Your soul could burn at any moment."

Piper wasn't sure what he meant, but Frank staggered like he had been punched in the gut.

"That's enough!" Tobias snarled, drawing Leo's attention. "Leave him alone and get out of my friend!"

Leo's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "Very well..."

Leo's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed before Tobias suddenly grabbed his head and hunched over. He groaned in pain.

"Tobias!" Kazehana and Yahan both tried to go to his side but then staggered back like they had been pushed. Tobias then straightened and looked at Piper, his own eyes glowing gold now. She felt like she had been punched. One of her visions had come true, and it was not symbolic.

"This body is much stronger than his," Tobias gestured at Leo's form. "And it has some..."

He grunted again and staggered back, hitting the wall with his shoulder. Piper saw his eyes flickering between three colors like a Las Vegas slot machine. Silver, gold, and white. She felt something pulse through the air before Tobias gasped and Leo's eyes opened, gold again and looking shocked.

"My body...is off limits..." Tobias painted with a growl hiding underneath the words as he looked up to show eyes with iris of pure white before they faded back to silver. Leo got to his feet and looked at Tobias again, shock faintly visible on his face and the face of the other two.

"What are you?" Jason asked.

"Something you can never possess." Tobias snarled. "And you will listen to Piper." He looked at her and nodded, his expression clear: Try again. You can do this.

Piper mustered all her courage. She had felt like her plan had been spiraling out of control when the switch had happened, but seeing that the spirits could be cast away solidified her resolve. She looked straight at Jason, staring into the eyes of the thing that was controlling him. "You will leave those bodies," Piper repeated, even more forcefully.

Jason's face tightened. His forehead beaded with sweat. "We- we will leave these bodies."

"You will vow on the River Styx never to return to this ship, and never to posses any member of this crew."

Leo and Percy both hissed in protest.

"You will promise on the River Styx." Piper insisted.

A moment of tension- she could feel their wills fighting against hers. Then all three eidolons spoke in unison: "We promise on the River Styx.

"You are dead," Piper said.

"We are dead," they agreed.

"Now leave."

All three boys slumped forward. Percy fell face-first into his pizza.

"Percy!" Annabeth grabbed him.

Piper and Hazel caught Jason's arms as he slipped out of his chair. Leo would've hit the ground again if Tobias didn't lift his right hand and stop him before lowering him to the floor. He then slid down the wall to sit on the floor with his eyes shut tight.

"Are you ok?" Yahan asked as she and Kazehana knelt next to him in worry.

"I'm fine. But I've got a killer headache." He groaned as he pressed a hand to his temple.

Leo pulled himself up off the floor. "Did it work?"

"It worked," Piper said, feeling pretty sure she was right. "I don't think they'll be back."

Jason blinked. "Does that mean I can stop getting head injuries now?"

Piper laughed, exhaling all her nervousness. "Come on, Lightning Boy. Let's get you some fresh air."

Tobias

While the two demigods went on deck to get some fresh air, Tobias went to the medical bay to grab some aspirin to help with his headache. Headache didn't even really cover it, since that implied a throb or dull ache of some kind. This headache felt like somebody was taking hammers wrapped in barbwire and playing whack-a-mole inside his cerebral cortex. Thankful the girls were being respectful and keeping their links with him at a bare minimum so they didn't add to his headache.

One of the few other time he had felt this bad was when he had been guilted into drinking and then accidently destroyed the bar when he had lost control of his powers. Long story, don't ask.

Now he was once again laying in the cargo hold(Leo still didn't have a better place for them to sleep, but he wasn't complaining at the moment) alone, trying to see if he could feel the pain in his head go away. So far, he could not.

Despite the pain, he was tired from the days events and getting possessed and ready to drift off to sleep...

RING RING RING! RING RING RING! RING RING RING!

"Ahhh!" Tobias was jerked out of his doze when the loud ringtone exuberated his headache and forced him to wake up. He then groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Oh, who the hell is calling me now!?" He growled angrily before looking at the bracelet/gauntlet on his wrist. The screen was flashing with every repetition of RING. He tapped a few buttons on the number pad, accepting the call. The screen shot up a cone of light and a mini tornado of stars whirled inside the light before the coalesced into a form.

The hologram had formed a teenager around his age, but that was where the similarities stopped. His hair was a curly black and cut close to the scalp, his skin a lighter shade of brown, but he wasn't full African American. He also had a small dose of Hispanic thrown in there to give him an exotic look. His clothes were typical teenager clothes, red shirt, black hoodie, a worn pair of jeans, and Converse sneakers. His eyes were light brown and had childish excitement in them.

In other words, he was Leo with better clothes and taller.

"Tobias! How you doing, I hadn't talked with you in a while and I was bored so I figured 'hey, why not call up my stepbrother and see how he was doing?' "

"Dante, I swear, I will kill you the next time I see you!" Tobias snarled angrily.

"Uh-oh, sounds like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed. Or did Kazehana and Yahan put you in the doghouse?"

"No, for your information, I am not 'in the doghouse,' " Tobias made quotes around the words with one hand. "What I am is tired and pissed off because I have a killer headache from almost being possessed and I was about to fall asleep when you call and make my damn headache even worse!" Tobias tended to be more fluent in his swearing when he properly angered.

The childish excitement faded from Dante's eyes to be replaced by seriousness. "You were almost possessed? By what?"

Tobias groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He should just hang up now, but if he did then Dante would just keep calling over and over until he got answers. "An eidolon."

"Oh, you're in that universe!? Great, I loved going there. Oh, wait, have you meet the crew yet? Hazel was pretty sweet once you get her out of her shell, Percy was a bit of a runaway mouth, but oh he was a great friend. Annabeth was great to chat with, always had a good conversation with her, and Leo, oh, the ideas we came up with...!"

"Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok, ok, ok, ok, just shut up!" Tobias shouted over him, as Dante's rambling was driving a railroad spike into his head and making his headache somehow even worse. He groaned and pressed a hand to his temples again. "I'm sorry, but forcing that damn spirit out of my head really did a number on me."

"Right, failed possession tends to do that to a person, sorry." Dante apologized, scratching the back of his head. "So, uh...what's been going on so far?"

"Well, we just met Bacchus in Kansas and are currently on a course to Atlanta to talk with some son of Gaea named Phorcys. And we kicked three eidolons off the ship just a little while ago."

"So you still haven't gotten to the big stuff yet?"

"Not yet. But things are going pretty fast, and I think they trust me."

"That's good, but I'm not surprised. They're all good people, I'm not surprised they trusted you considering how you are."

Tobias narrowed his eyes. "Was that a insult?"

"I don't know, was it?" Dante asked, smiling innocently. Tobias grunted and didn't reply. "So what did you bring with you anyways?"

"My sword, vortex manipulator, the clothes you made me, plus a few other things here and there."

"Well sounds like you came prepared. Which is good, since you'll be fighting some strong opponents."

Tobias smiled, but this smile wasn't like his regular ones. Instead of being a smile of friendship, or comfort, or love...this was the smile of a predator. "I'm counting on it. I haven't been able to cut loose since me and the girls went back home. Now...I want to see how far I've come since then against things I'll have no problem killing."

Dante smirked and gave a two fingered salute. "Then I pity the poor bastard that makes it so you bring out all your strength. I guess I'll say sayonara for now then. But before I do, promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Be sure to give Octavian a punch in the face for me."

Tobias laughed, the predatory look vanishing like it hadn't been there. "Done, I was planning to give him a punch anyways."

"Adios." The hologram flickered and faded as the light cone condensed into a beam and vanished. Tobias sighed and laid back down, yawning as he did. Time to get some sleep, because if there was one thing he had learned in his short time here, it was you never knew what was going to happen next.

"Ok, this is new." Tobias said as he looked at the ground a mile or so below him. He knew he had lucid dreams but he rarely had ones that started with him off the ground. Right now it looked like he was above Kansas, looking at a sunflower field next to a highway. But he was so high up the sunflower field was a blanket of yellow with flecks of brown mixed in and the road was a thin black line. As he looked at the horizon, he saw the hills and fields were like frozen waves in a endless and color filled ocean. He felt like he was looking at things from a god's perspective.

"It's different, seeing how beings of such power see things, isn't it?"

Tobias snapped his gaze back down at the sleepy and familiar voice. The fields were folding and changing until they made the shape of a sleeping woman's face.

"Gaea." Tobias snarled. "I don't recall giving you permission to stick your nose in my dreams."

"Calm yourself child. I am not here to harm you," Gaea replied in a soothing tone.

Tobias crossed his arms. "Then state your business and then get out of my head."

The face twisted into a sleepy smile. "I must say, you surprise me, Tobias Song. I sensed much power hidden inside you when we met on that highway, and my eidolons...very impressive to repel one after it had gained hold of your body."

"I'm hearing a lot of stuff I already know, get to your point." Tobias snapped.

"Very well. Why do you fight me?"

"You mean to end Western Civilization as we know it and killed every god, mortal, and demigod that walks across your skin. I happen to take offense to that."

"Ah, but surely you must see how diseased and tainted 'Western Civilization' has become. You see how petty the gods are, always bickering with each other and ignoring their children as they die, hunted down by monsters."

"You aren't a good role model either, Gaea. You ignored the war between the gods and Titans twice, once when Kronos was overthrown by Zeus and the second time when he tried to make a comeback in Manhattan. And the gods and their children are you grandchildren, yet you mean to kill them and let the giants take over." Tobias snarled.

"Perhaps, but I sense you are reasonable. You must know that stopping my rise this time is impossible, that I will rise as surely as time passes, regardless of what others may wish was different."

"The Prophecy of Seven says differently."

"It says that to storm or fire the world must fall. Your world is doomed, regardless of what you believe or may try."

"So what, you're calling me to tell me that I'm going to die regardless of my powers and skills?"

"If you continue down this path, then you yes, you will die. But, that does not have to happen."

Tobias narrowed his eyes and let his arms drop to his side. "I'm listening."

"It is very simple. Don't fight against me. Join me and stop this foolish quest to sail to Rome. Kill your crew mates and I will grant you and your lovers a place of honor in the new world. I sense your bonds with them and your mutual love. Very touching."

Tobias growled deep in his throat while slamming mental barriers into place. Now that he was looking for it, he sensed Gaea had been slowly poking around in his head as they talked, looking through his recent memories and examining his links with Yahan and Kazehana.

"Those bonds are off limits to everyone, Gaea! Even you!" The air around him started to swirl, responding to his anger.

"I meant no harm," Gaea responded calmly. "But you must see I offer you something many would gladly kill for. Simply stop the Argo II and I will make you and your lovers gods. You will never die, never want for anything. You can live forever in a utopia."

She presented a compelling argument and in such a sympathetic and seductive tone that almost anyone would gladly take the offer. But Tobias wasn't most people. He knew Gaea was trying to persuade him to her side because he scared her. Plus, immortality had no appeal to him since he didn't see it as a blessing. He saw it as a curse.

"I already live in a utopia, Gaea. One of my own making, and I have no desire to live forever." Tobias lifted his arms above his head, drawing more and more air to him. "You think I would be selfish and save myself while I let you kill six billion people? You think I don't see through your words? You're attempting to turn me not because I'm reasonable, but because you're scared of me and my girls."

"You are but specks of dust in a grand scheme. You are nothing to fear." Gaea's face stopped smiling and turned into a slight frown, like she was having an unpleasant dream.

Tobias smiled evilly as the air started making a twister. "No, we scare you and we scare you very much. We are unknowns, pieces that you don't not know and therefore cannot predict. We have no weakness for you to exploit, we have powers you don't not understand how we are able to have, and in such quantities you are stunned. You have good reason to be afraid Gaea, because we will not stop until you are placed into your slumber again and your giants defeated. Now..." Tobias roared as the sunflowers and other crops suddenly bent towards him in the intense and powerful winds that twisted around him, into a giant and blackened tornado. "GET OUT, OF MY, HEAD!"

The twister ripped up the ground where Gaea's face was, ripping chunks the size of houses from the earth in the devastating face of such raw power. The dirt covered Tobias's eyes and he couldn't see through the black soil.

Tobias took a sharp breath as he woke up. A quick look showed Yahan and Kazehana both beside him, eyes closed and faces untroubled. He took a breath as he laid his head down again and looked at the dark ceiling.

"Bring it on, Dirt Face." He whispered into the blackness.

A/N: And that's six done. Next chapter will skip over some stuff because I won't be changing it and I see no reason to write what I won't be influencing, so just a heads up. Also, I'm starting college soon so updates will slow down as I start my classes. Favorite and review and I'll see you next time!

P.S. I own nothing but my OC