Moon Says: So, I didn't get this chapter uploaded as soon as I had wanted, I am sorry for that. To make up for the week or two lateness for it, I am giving you a 10 page chapter instead of shorter like the other ones. Here you go and tell me what you think. I think there is one more chapter before I start getting into Twilight, maybe two.

Twilight of the Gods

~Chapter 7~

Nico guided me toward the farmhouse at a slower pace than Chiron, who grabbed Annabeth and Percy and took them on his back.

By the time the slow ones got there, and I'd even admit, the silent walk with Nico was nice and comforting (I was giving in because of Percy being back but only momentary), Annabeth was already grilling my brother for details of why he took so long to get back.

"He was healing, you idiot. For a Daughter of Athena, you need to use your brain more," I scolded quietly as Nico and I took a seat on either side of Percy on the couch. A seat I knew Annabeth was about to take when she stopped glaring and commanding my brother.

Bitch snooze she lost.

Percy just rolled his eyes and told us a cliffnotes version, one that definitely didn't involve his revelation about me—something I'll just keep to myself.

After Percy finished his account, he and Chiron started talking about involving a mortal with the sight called Rachel, Annabeth started freaking out, and that's when I decided to leave.

I didn't get very far from the farmhouse when Nico joined me.

"What is it, Nico? Does Chiron want something else? It's too late today to head to New York, and Percy has to get in touch with the girl. So, what is it?" I didn't even hide how tired I was.

"Annabeth asked if she could switch places with me, but I told her that was up to you," was the quiet response of his voice.

The fact that he even let Annabeth believe it was an option made me stop and turn toward him.

I tried searching his face, but I couldn't figure out why he said that. Nico hadn't let me go alone, with Percy, into the Forge let alone the entire Labyrinth in the first place...why the hell was he even contemplating letting me back into the Labyrinth without him?

Nico had been so insistent that he come, so why was he going to back out now?

It would make everything easier on me if he wasn't there, even if Annabeth was the trade, so why wasn't I jumping at this?

Why the fuck did he even propose it?

My face clearly said what I couldn't ask because Nico spoke next. "Percy was right; you're getting distracted, and I know it's because of me. And if I'm around, you're going to continue to get distracted, and it'll probably end up killing us all. I don't know what I did—"

I cut him off with a sigh and a hand running through hair.

Strike what I said about being perfect. He was bringing this shit up, and I didn't want to face it. And by the damn look in his eyes, Nico knew he was doing this, bringing it up in this way, so I would be forced to confront whatever the hell this was that was messing with me.

Well, fuck him.

"You mean besides the fact that I want to hate you right now?" I muttered as I turned and headed toward my cabin, knowing he would follow me.

Nico caught up with me right before I hit the porch. He grabbed my right arm and spun me around, "What the hell does that mean?" his black eyes were like they were on fire.

Fire and ice.

Damn him.

"It means," I stressed with a hardened gaze, "That I don't have time to be dealing with this shit. You were the one that insisted on coming. You. You decided to come, so if you want to leave, go ahead. But it's your choice," I said as I yanked my arm back and went straight inside the cabin, slamming the door behind me.

Lucky for me, I closed all the windows before I left the damn place earlier.

Damn it, Nico, I thought as I slid down the door. I really didn't have time to be dealing with this. I didn't have the mind either.

Too much, too much.

I bit back a sob, but something escaped.

It always did.

First all this shit with Luke was tearing me apart. Then, I almost lose Percy to my stupidity (my mind tried to say Nico too but I shut that down). Now, Nico is pressing me for answers to shit I can't think about.

Fuck, where was Jasper when I need him? I wanted Jasper to hold me so bad, to keep this hole inside of me from getting worse. I knew I was making it worse. The thing with Nico was making it bigger...

Luke. Luke. Luke.

Too much, too much.

I heard a whisper through the door before he left, something that started to tear me apart even more.

"Why are you pushing me away? Let me help you."

I only whimpered and sought out the ice. I would freeze.

It was the only way I was going to survive.

~TotG~

Nico walked away from Poseidon's Cabin with a heavy heart and a whimper that tore through his body, breaking him down.

Why wouldn't she let him help her?

Asking that question made Nico remember something that Bianca had once told him when he asked her if they were going to help a friend.

You can't help someone, brother, if they don't know what they problem is.

And that right there was the problem. Isa was avoiding it all, shoving it to the far reaches of her mind because she couldn't handle it.

Nico wanted to scream. She didn't confront the problem because it was tearing her apart, but by pushing it away it was ripping her to shreds.

And all this had to do with the gods and their fucking games.

Damn it, Aphrodite! You think love is a game, something to play with, but what are you going to do when it does tear her apart and she dies because of it? Or she turns against all of you? In case you didn't know, Percy would do more than follow her to the Underworld and back. If she died, he would go crazy and probably follow her too. What will you do then? Where will be your champion of the Great Prophecy then?

Nico, after getting lost in his thoughts, find himself out in the woods and punched a tree in frustration.

Fucking gods and their games.

Nico vowed, then and there, that he would do anything he could to get his Isabella through this while keeping her whole.

Whatever it took…even if he became the one spoken of in the prophecy and destroyed the gods.

Anything because she was worth it.

~TotG~

Three Demi-Gods got into a car and made their way to New York… I felt that that was a start of a joke and wondered if it would be a funny one.

Meeting up with mom was awkward, she feed and watered us before we left for that meeting with Rachel which was interesting at the least.

I liked her to be honest, and if Percy had a crush on her, I'd totally be okay with them dating.

She even made it bearable to go back into the maze.

As we journeyed deeper, Percy asked questions about what she saw. Traps and the like. She had a good eye. Some of the stuff I didn't see, but, again, probably because my eyes didn't see as well as hers.

Of course, maybe it wasn't her or maybe it was Fate again, but we ended up somewhere not the workshop.

We got captured by those vampire monsters Percy met with Rachel before the summer started. Someone's playing with us.

When are we not played with is the better question.

They tried to take all of our weapons. Percy got Riptide taken away, but they couldn't touch Nico's and mine. It burned them.

Fools. I wished I had time to get the children of the god of the Forge to put the ancient rune of belonging on Percy's blade. Though I was curious how Nico got it on his (of course, the answer was probably his father).

To keep the two of us in line, they threatened Rachel and Percy. I knew the two of us could take them, but I wasn't sure if our two companions would get hurt in the process.

When Nico nodded, I knew he had come to the same conclusion as I had. I gave my acceptance as well, and we continued on. I was actually curious of where they were leading us. A part of me went along peacefully hoping they would take us to Luke.

The whole thing about Fate guiding us really sunk home when we were lead to an Arena of sorts where a very tired and wary looking Luke was overlooking the dead center of said Arena (not that I noticed him right away) and a BAMF was standing in the center and beating the ever living shit out of someone before granted his opponent the mercy of death.

I needed to learn how to say 'we are royally fucked' in another language.

You know lots of goths, punks, emos (that crowd) love the whole skull decorations? I kind of do, myself, but I wasn't so sure about that anymore when I actually took in the arena that we were drug too. But that wasn't the décor that had my attention. What was a banner of my father doing in this arena of death?

I wasn't stupid; I knew that the gods had bad sides to them just as they did good, but this was confusing. The only thing I could think of was that the guy who was in charge of this place had ties to my father.

Then one of those idiots that had us captive taunted my brother with the fact of blood relation to the decorator.

So I had a half-brother here that liked killing people and/or watching people kill people? Good to know.

Of course what had most of my focus was the person who was above the banner.

"Luke," I whispered; everything inside of me was only became more conflicted at the sight of him, and the relief I thought I would feel wasn't there. Luke did not look good at all. Something was wrong, something really wrong. What was the cost of him surviving that fall?

I couldn't tell you for sure if he heard me, but he just switched his eyes from my twin to me and looked sort of scared. I knew that look wasn't for him but for me. His eyes told me that I shouldn't have been there at all.

I could practically hear him from across the room, "Why can't you stay away, Little Mermaid? Why can't you stay away and be safe?"

I only shook my head and gave him a resigned look. "Why won't you come with me?"

Before this, we both knew I would never stop trying to save him, and he would always try and push me away. But now? We both knew that some line had been crossed, a point of no return, and soon that decision I was to make that Lady Hera postponed would be upon us and it wouldn't only be mine.

Our eyes broke contact when the battle in the arena was over and that BAMF I had laid eyes on before had moved toward Luke.

When Antaeus, my half-brother, demanded entertainment from Luke, my old mentor seemed hesitant as his eyes swept back to me for a second before back to the giant. His next words told me why he looked to me and looked a bit regretful.

"I give you Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon."

Antaeus then looked straight at us, but I think Luke forgot something. Percy and I were mostly identical twins. One look at us side by side told the giant all he needed to know.

"A daughter of Poseidon, huh? I'm not sure I've seen a sister before," Antaeus mused before looking me up and down and spotting my blades. "A warrior as well. It's decided! If my sister provides me a good fight, I will grant you passage, Luke, Son of Hermes."

Luke stood up and immediately protested. "I'm giving you a son of Poseidon not a daughter!"

It was sweet that Luke was trying to protect me; it was clear that he feared for my life. Always trying to save me. But I knew this time he couldn't. Either way this went, I would help Luke. Either by my death or by killing this bastard.

"The girl or no deal," Antaeus threatened.

It was clear Luke was torn but only for a second. I knew that steeled look in his eyes: he was going to refuse.

But I had come here to help Luke, for good or ill. I hoped that either winning or losing helped him see that I was here, that I could save him. If I died here, I knew Luke would be break and, I was mostly positive that he would leave Kronos (unless the bastard promised to bring me back to life, then we would have a Luke that was more than one hundred percent committed to the Titan).

So, either way, this could go sideways.

But I came here to help Luke, and now my twin was in damage and so was Nico and Rachel.

They all needed me.

"I will fight," I told the death-lover in the arena before Luke could deny himself the deal.

Percy protested. "No, Isa. I'll fight Antaeus," then he tried to shove me back toward Nico who, from the corner of my eye I saw, was barely holding it together.

That gave me a brilliant idea, "Why fight a daughter of Poseidon when you have Twins of Poseidon?"

Antaeus was old, so I knew that unlike some of my fellow modern children of the gods he would know what twins meant. If he took on Percy and I together then it would be an easier battle then it would be if it was just me.

Antaeus looked quite intrigued at the thought of taking on Twins. Especially if we were of the same father.

"Agreed, little sister. Before you die, I will show you exactly why I am our father's favorite son! In his name, I have killed many a foe, and built the Earthshaker a temple of their skulls. Worry not, I will put the two of yours together and in a special place."

Then he went up to the balcony next to Luke, sat down, and gestured toward a gate where a monster came out.

"Prove to me that the two-that-are-one are ready to fight me. What is your weapon?"

Percy and I shared a look, "Our blades," we said together.

Riptide appeared in his hand just as I pulled mine out of the sheaths.

Not even a second later, our opponent fully came through the gate while Percy launched himself at her. As he distracted her, I slipped in behind her and cut off her head.

Our brother did not like that one bit. "I give the order to kill! I want entertainment, so fight more slowly and do not make the kill unless I say so OR ELSE!"

I closed my eyes so I didn't roll them.

"A monster is an easy kill for a demi-god, how about another demi-god?"

When the guy came out, a young warrior not that much older than us, the demi-god did a double take as he saw both of us.

"Two on one? How am I supposed to prove myself if the odds are against me?" after he spoke, he did a double take, and realized just what he had said. Two on one would be a great chance to prove yourself if you defeated both of them.

I was feeling a bit sympatric so I told him, "You are fighting twins, cousin; therefore, because we are the two-that-are-one, you are fighting one on one, really."

He just looked at me, "That doesn't make sense! There are two of you, how can you be one person? In the end, I'm fighting two people."

Percy, though, thought to talk to him in a different way. My twin asked his name and other things. We only got the demi-god's name when the spectators started freaking out, and Ethan charged us.

Percy and I were always fast. We weren't the, as my video game memory serves me, tanks that wore the heavy armor and did heavy damage. No, Percy and I were more like rogues. Well, he was when he didn't have on armor and a shield. Still, neither of us really had on traditional armor (mine was special but looked like regular clothes), so we were quite lighter unlike our opponent.

Besides the fact that he was wearing himself out trying to impress Luke. The heavy ass armor did not help at all.

I took Percy's lead at not trying to kill the guy. We blocked and dodged, but there was no offense strikes from us. Antaeus did not like that at all.

When our brother commanded that we stand and fight, Percy and I, in complete unison, tripped our opponent, he on the left and I on the right, and when the armor weighed him down, we pressed our blades to his neck, a foot each to hold him down.

We both turned toward the monster next to Luke who didn't look happy about the battle he saw, but gave us a thumbs down.

"Kill me, get it over with," Ethan groaned. That armor must have weighed a lot.

I pulled my left blade back and stepped away from the fallen demi-god. Percy did the same, but he was more vocal.

My eyes went to Luke who just sighed. His eyes telling me he was tired and amused at the same time. I could hear him practically call me an 'Idiot'.

With little remorse, nothing that would keep me up at night because it was for Percy, Luke, and the others, I would kill Ethan. But Percy was a part of this as well, and I couldn't hurt him like that. Besides monsters who had attacked us, Percy had never killed anyone, and because of his heart, it would not go over too well.

Me? I was prepared for it. Jasper had made damn sure I was desensitized to the thought of ending a life before I left. So were Emmett and Rose. They knew what was going to happen. Even though my heart was as kind and gentle as Percy's heart, unlike him, I had learned to turn it off.

That was my purpose in life after all. I was the dark Twin. I was the Left Hand, the one who did things in the darkness. I did what Percy couldn't do.

And it wouldn't have been the first time.

Back on Luke's ship when we were hunting the Golden Fleece, a few demi-gods fell to my hand though Percy thought we got away without killing anyone.

My hands were stained red so Percy's hands didn't have to be.

But I knew if I killed Ethan here and now, in front of him, Percy would blame himself.

I couldn't bear to see his Light be tainted.

Instead, like always, I stood back and let him handle things the way he always does: he directs everything at himself so others can be saved.

I caught his command to Ethan to run when he got the chance right before the idiot twin of mine challenged our homicidal brother to death.

Luke was frozen to his seat as he too took in the idiotic challenge. His worried blue eyes found mine.

By the look in his eyes, Luke seemed to think Percy and I were dead. There was a struggle inside of Luke right now, I could see it. When my brother gave his terms to Antaeus and the bastard accepted, Luke's eyes hardened with resolve.

I could tell, deal or no deal, he wouldn't let me die. Without a second to loose, as Antaeus jumped into the arena, Ethan took off, Luke mouthed the word "Gaia" to me.

My eyes widened. The Titan of the Earth was this fucker's mother?

"Seriously, father? You screwed my great-grandmother, your grandmother, to beget this beast? Were you drunk? If so, I need to know what cousin Dionysus gave you so I never go near the stuff."

Well, Shit.

Now we had to face a frigging half-Titan half-god with the powers of the sea and earth.

As Antaeus charged us, I threw myself out of the way to the right, and my eyes narrowed when the bastard didn't come after me. It seemed once focused on my twin, he had forgotten about me.

That is what you get when Percy taunts you. Why did they all fall for it?

Suppose I shouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth; after all, it gave me time to watch him and learn his weakness.

Then Percy cut and stabbed the bastard, only to lose his sword as it was tossed behind our brother, right toward me.

Each wound was healed by the dirt around us in the arena.

Well, Shit.

"Now you see why I never lose, demi-god!" the bastard gloated, "Now come here and let me crush you."

I nudge my brother's sword with my foot, watching it as it disappeared before looking around the arena to see if there was any way to get him away from the earth.

The opposite of earth was air.

My eyes went to the ceiling and, well, maybe it was a time to like skulls again. There were skulls hanging from the chains which were connected to the ceiling.

But what could I do with the chains? I could always get cords tangled up but never something with me in it…that was Percy's gift.

With two of us, we could wrap the bastard in the chains, keep him suspended…

That would have to do.

When I came back to the battle, Percy was cornered, but he caught my eye. I made a movement toward the chains, and he nodded.

We were much shorter than Antaeus, so it was going to be hard to get up on those chains, so we'd have to use him.

I always liked climbing.

Percy distracted him front, faking a dive under his legs, like he did before, and used our brother as a springboard. I did so from behind. Course it helped that Percy had gotten Antaeus next to a wall so I used both him and the wall to catch myself a few chains. We climbed a little bit to get out of his grasp, but Percy started taunting him more.

"Can't you get up here? Or are you too fat and slow?"

If there was one thing that Percy was good at, it was getting his enemies in a rage that had them making mistakes.

While Antaeus struggled to get up on the chains to get to us, Percy had been sawing off chains so he could get our brother strung up by his loincloth.

"Really, Percy?" I breathed as I got other chains and started getting our enemy caught up in them, "If that hook rips through, you are paying for my therapy bills."

It was a good thing that I had mostly got our brother tangled up because Percy stopped as he fully realized what he had done.

"Yeah, you and me both," he said, and before Luke could get those words out of his mouth to protest what we did, Percy stabbed Antaeus in the stomach.

Since he wasn't on the ground, the dirt/sand couldn't heal him, and he dissolved.

Luke growled, "Percy, you idiot! I should—" he cut himself off as he looked back toward me. With a frustrated huff, Luke raised his voice so everyone in the place could hear him. "Spare the girl and bring her to me," he said pointing to me, "But you can kill the rest."

Maybe I was still numb, but the thought that Luke was really willing to have Percy and Nico killed didn't affect me. Instead, I focused on the arena full of monsters that were about to attack us.

My focus was on Nico and Rachel. She dropped the bottle of water she had been holding, and I called upon my powers and used it to kill her guard. Without missing a beat, Nico pulled out his sword and killed his guard.

Percy pulled out something that hummed with ice, I could feel it even five feet from it.

As he blew into it, Luke laughed, "That was your big plan to save everyone?"

The whistle shattered, and something was coming toward us. That giant ass dog that loved licking and punching on me was here, and she killed the monsters that were in our way. Rachel pointed to the exit we needed to take while the lot of us make sure our way was cleared. Ethan was by our side as we exited the arena. I made sure not to look back at Luke; otherwise, I wouldn't leave. We didn't stop running until we got to a huge room, Ethan went his own way, and we rested, assured by Rachel that we were close to the heart of the Labyrinth.

It took a while for me to settle, and when I did, it wasn't Luke's order to kill the others that had me in shambles. It was the combination of him wanting to take me with him this time and the fact that I left him there, in dire need of help.

My mind went back to the condition of his body that I found him in when we first entered the arena…what price did he pay to survive that fall?

Why did I have a feeling it meant that saving him was going to be next to impossible?