Firstly, ya'll don't get your panties in a twist. CALM the fuck down. Derek is NOT evil. It will be explained in either this chapter or the next chapter. Yes, I know ya'll got confused when he suddenly tried to rape Bianca but chillax. He isn't evil. As you may have guessed it, he's being influenced. Perseus took him to hell to find out who influenced him. Although I admit it was a little overboard to have Poseidon come down and disown him. I've changed that now. Pls read it again.

Previously on The Devil,

He strolled to an abandoned building in the middle of the hellish plains. It was only the size of a regular camp cabin, but it was designed to hold even the strongest of beings. It was black and red in colour, just like the all the buildings near his palace.

He opened the door and entered. Derek was sitting on a chair, the interrogation table in front. Perseus closed the door behind him and grabbed the handles, snapping it from the door with ease. He raised the broken handles threateningly. His eyes turned fully red.

"Welcome to Hell"

Two weeks after the dreadful incident which involved Derek being taken to Hell, the camp was bustling with activity. The campers were made to do their normal chores and blah blah blah.

But nobody had seen Perseus so nervous. It made them wonder what had happened down in Hell. After his visit to Hell and back, he had seemed very nervous and had been snappy. Nobody save for Chiron could approach him without being glowered at.

Thalia wondered what was wrong with him. For the past two days he would avoid her, claiming he was busy. Whenever she had him cornered, he would suddenly flash out in a column of flames, making her attack the wall in frustration.

They were sitting in the dining pavilion and simply enjoying their respective breakfast when a gasp was heard from Chiron. "This is impossible," Chiron said. No one had ever heard him sound so nervous. "It… she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around everyone's feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

Nobody dared move. Then her voice hissed inside their heads. Everyone could hear it, because several clutched their hands over the ears.

I am the sprit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.

The Oracle regarded the campers with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade. Approach, Seeker, and ask.

Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. They saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. The Oracle spoke:

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

Devil's Bane they shall face,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

Then, as they were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this pavilion for a hundred years.

Perseus turned and without a word, he erupted into a column of flames, leaving a charred mark on the wooden planks in front of the sacrificial brazier. Dionysus, who had watched the whole thing, decided to have a council meeting of the cabin leaders in about half an hour.

(In Hell)

Perseus had returned to his domain, just because he was still in denial. He hurriedly fast-walked to the main prison, where the strongest of beings were held.

He walked towards the seven cells. It was a group of cells that housed the most dangerous of beings that had ever been captured by him. One, of course was his father, Kronos. The second and third housed Hyperion and his brother Krios. The fourth and fifth held Koios and Iapetus. The sixth one held Mnemosyne, the only titan daughter of Ouranos who supported Kronos.

The seventh one however, held the most deadly. She was not even close to being as powerful as a titan. Far from it. But she was extremely dangerous. She was an enchantress and a seductress. A being who had nearly killed Perseus on several occasions. Nobody, god or mortal could resist her charms. It was only due to the several attempts that Perseus was able to resist her (somewhat) and finally defeat her.

Her beauty was extraordinaire. She didn't limit herself to just men. Even women would fall for her charms, though not as strongly. She wasn't just all looks though. Her voice was like an enhanced form of charm-speak that greatly surpassed Aphrodite's own abilities. And THAT was saying something. Aphrodite was known to even charm-speak gods sometimes. There was no telling what this woman could do.

He rushed past the demonic guards who bent the knee when he passed by them. He didn't bother to glance at them. HE had much more pressing matters to attend to. He pushed open the huge double metal doors to the seven cells.

They were arranged in a circle. Kronos' was in the direct front, right opposite to the entry. Beside him were supposed to be Hyperion and Iapetus. Krios and Koios were to be on either side once again.

He cursed as he saw the empty cells. Only Kronos' was somewhat filled with a golden essence looming here and there. But almost three fourths of it was missing. Hyperion, Iapetus and Krios were nowhere to be seen. He let himself relax when he saw that Koios and Mnemosyne were still there, struggling against their bonds.

He then turned to the last cell. Empty. In a fit of rage he yelled. after calming himself down, he looked again, hoping that it was just a trick of the light. No such luck.

He exited out of the building and ordered it locked down.

"Surround the base with Chaos' Platinum. And go to the library and find Ouranos' scroll. Find a spell which I have labelled as lockdown. Use it on the cells."

The demons gasped. Chaos' Platinum was THE rarest metal. And it was also THE strongest. It was virtually indestructible. After all, it was designed to hold Lady Chaos herself. A few titans is nothing.

He stormed back to his palace and slumped on his throne. He put his hands on his head. He had been given ONE task, and he had failed. It was his job to make sure that the titans would never escape. But how?

He had made sure that the cells would hold. He had tested them with Oceanus. It was able to hold him. Why was it not enough for Hyperion and the others. He wondered how Merediana was able to escape. She wasn't even close to Hyperion's level of power.

He sat straight as he realised one thing. Someone had betrayed him. Somebody had freed Merediana long back, and she had wreaked havoc. She had taken control of that Derek boy and played with his life for years together. He didn't even realise how long she had been in the outside world.

Nearly two years. The exact amount of time Derek had been in camp.

He stood from his throne. It was no coincidence that she had chosen that particular boy. He was the perfect candidate. Namely because he was a boy. Secondly, he was a child of the big three. Perfect for manipulating the prophecy. Thirdly, as a son of Poseidon, he would naturally have a large influence on the camp. Many young campers would look up to him. There was no doubt that they would sway their alliances should he choose to side with Kronos.

He needed to help them find Artemis, and fast. It was no coincidence that she had been kidnapped. She was the ONLY one who would be able to fully resist her charms. Second was Aphrodite herself, but the love goddess wasn't a fighter. If charm-speak and seduction wouldn't work, Merediana would simply attack her. Her skill was on par with Perseus's own, which was a feat in itself. Only Olympians like Artemis and Athena could keep up.

He setback in his throne as he thought about the possible predicaments of the other gods.

Ares and the other male gods would be absolutely useless against her. She just had to bat her eyelashes and they would be on their knees, serving her. He frowned in distaste when he remembered the first time he had been bewitched by her beauty and her voice.

It was absolutely horrible. In the end, it was his demonic servants who had come to save him. Being females AND being demons helped them repel the enchantress long enough for him to escape. From that day on, he had trained himself not to fall under such spells ever again.

Sadly, he had clearly underestimated the seductress. He had yet again fell for her charms, though not as strongly, and he had barely managed to make it out alive. Barely. He was on the brink of fading when his brother Poseidon had found him on a beach.

The third time he took a large female force with him. This time it was somewhat of a tie, but still many of his soldiers had died. He went to Ouranos himself for help. There he was trained in the arts of psychic defence and offense. He learnt to mentally project horrifying images. The catch with this was that he should be actually able to transform into those.

Usually, they say that the third time's a charm. But it was actually on the fourth attempt that he managed to successfully defeat her.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when a demoness came running up to him. "My Lord! The boy wasn't strong enough. He...He passed."

He slammed his fist into the throne, cracking it slightly. The members in the room looked at him warily, as if they were secretly preparing to bolt out of the room any moment. He was admittedly a little worried. What was he going to tell his brother? How was he going to explain to Poseidon that he had taken his son to his domain, but he somehow died. It would almost seem as if he killed him. Not to mention that his actions ensured that the camp thought he hated the boy.

He decided to bend the rules. Just this once. He gave the order to return the soul of the boy back to his body. He would personally take the boy back to camp. After all, his soul hadn't reached the Underworld...yet. So he wouldn't exactly be breaking the ancient laws. But this would mean that the boy would only die sooner. But then again, he thought, all demigods die young.

He remembered the day he had finally captured Merediana. He had personally made sure that she wouldn't be able to escape again. He chained her and the demons sewed her mouth shut with imperial gold wires. Very painful. Imperial gold slowly poisons the being, but if immortal, it only keeps the wound open forever, unless treated.

The demons then slashed at her and whipped her so many times until she no longer looked beautiful. Of course, when she escaped it would have all healed completely. She must have somehow bewitched some poor guard. Even in that ugly ass state.

He walked to the centre of the throne room and stood, watching the seven deities of Hell argue with each other. The seven deities of Hell were regular humans who were handpicked by Perseus himself to run the kingdom. Yes, there was a kingdom in Tartarus even though it's hard to believe. Tartarus was much more than a 'bottomless recycling bin of the gods' as the campers put it.

He sighed. He needed to get to that council meeting that Dionysus was about to host. He wasn't a fool. He knew that Merediana would make an appearance during their quest to save Artemis. And if he wasn't there...well let's just say, they'll be screwed. They were merely teenagers. Hormonal teenagers. Something that would be child's play for Merediana. Hell, she even slept with a pope once. And that's saying something.

(At the council meeting in the Big House. Thirty minutes after it started. Three days after the prophecy was given. Three days after Derek was brought back to life)

Perseus sighed as he massaged his forehead frustratedly. The meeting was going nowhere.

He had returned Derek to the camp, and then he had explained, to the WHOLE camp in the amphitheater about how he was being mind-controlled and how he had taken him to Hell just to purge the lingering effects of the mind control.

At first they had been weary, but when Perseus told Derek to swear on the Styx, and when he did, they began to relax. They accepted him back and he even personally apologised to Bianca, giving her flowers. At first she didn't forgive him, but when she saw that it really wasn't his fault and that he was truly sorry, she forgave him, but warned him to never do such a thing again.

Annabeth had warmed up to him when she got to know how much he had suffered in the past two weeks and she was surprised to see such a great change. Thalia was blatantly adamant, refusing to even acknowledge him. After being warned by Perseus, she decided to give the boy a chance. She quickly realised he wasn't the same. His attitude had done a one-eighty. He was no longer arrogant, or self-centred. He was still a little perverted but not much. Just as much as the other boys in camp.

The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of the campers were underage. Mr. D sighed. With a snap of his fingers the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either.

Perseus conjured up a bottle of whisky and began to drink from it though. Something that made Dionysus livid. But he didn't say anything. He knew he would get his ass handed to him if he tried anything.

Mr. D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoe and Bianca (who had stuck to her ever since that incident in the forest) took the other end. Thalia and Grover and Perseus sat along the right, and the other head councillors—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, Annabeth Chase and Luke Castellan—sat on the left. For some bloody reason, the Still brothers decided to sit with Luke. Chiron didn't seem to mind. This was an important meeting.

The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs (accidentally) during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.

Annabeth broke the silence on a positive note. "This is pointless. Let's at least discuss a course of action."

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping. Annabeth gave him a glare.

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca said. Perseus was amazed at how different she looked after just a couple weeks with the Hunters. Her dark hair was braided like Zoe's now, so you could actually see her face. She had a splash of freckles across her nose, and her dark eyes vaguely reminded him of someone famous, but couldn't remember who. He vaguely remembered someone like that in the 1900s. But eh, he left it.

She looked like she'd been working out, and her skin glowed faintly, like the other Hunters, as if she'd been taking showers in liquid moonlight. "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get five hunters and go."

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said dismissively. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe exclaimed. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your" Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."

Zoe hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. " Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

Perseus snorted. "You being helpful is like saying that father wants to help humans."

Dionysus glared at Perseus, who merely took another swig of whisky, serving to irritate the god already on probation.

The campers and hunters looked between the two gods hesitantly, as if one of them were to explode suddenly. But nothing happened. Mr. D merely sat back in his chair, drinking the Diet Coke he had conjured up.

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoe, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

Zoe grimaced, but everyone could tell Thalia had scored a point.

"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus."

Perseus smirked at his nephew's expression upon being dissed by Artemis's lieutenant.

Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

"I must agree with Zoe," said Chiron. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and two," Derek said.

Everybody looked at him. Thalia even forgot to glare at him.

"We're supposed to have five," he said, feeling self-conscious. "Three Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. That's more than fair."

Thalia and Zoe exchanged looks.

"Well," Thalia said. "It does make sense."

Zoe grunted. "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."

Chiron interrupted. "One thing though. You will have to take Perseus with you."

Zoe glared at Chiron. "Why?"

Before Chiron could reply, Perseus spoke, feeling irritated. "Because I know exactly who has caught Artemis, and why. Without me, you will definitely fail."

Thalia raised an eyebrow at what she presumed to be his arrogance.

He continued. "Her name is Merediana." At this, the room became slightly cold for a few seconds. When the temperature became normal, he continued. "She is an enchantress and a seductress."

Zoe snorted. "So?"

He glared at the huntress for interrupting him, making her shrink in her seat.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted. Merediana is firstly, nearly as powerful as me. Secondly, she possesses the ability to charm-speak on a greater level than Aphrodite herself."

Cue the gasps from everyone.

"Thirdly, she can seduce anybody. Much like an empousa. She doesn't discriminate between males and females. Meaning, YOU." He pointed at Zoe. "wouldn't be able to resist her."

Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Perseus. "Trust me. I too fell for her the first three times. Only after that I grew a resistance to it. You are nowhere near that. Not even close."

Zoe realised that he might be right. She had personally seen how devastating Perseus could be when fighting. If this woman was as powerful as him AND had some extra perks like charm-speak and seduction, then she couldn't even fathom of the possibilities.

"Chiron," Derek said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

"That's some serious danger you're facing,"Luke Castellan said. (Perseus noticed how he said you and not we.) "It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die."

"One shall be lost in the land without rain" Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

There was a muttering of agreement.

"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Silena said. "What could that mean?"

Perseus saw Chiron and Zoe exchange a nervous look, but whatever they were thinking, they didn't share it. But he sort of figured out what Zoe was thinking. She thought her father Atlas would be free. And he was. But they didn't need to know that.

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

There was heavy silence around the table.

Perseus suddenly perked up. "Chiron I...I know the monster Artemis was hunting."

The whole room grew silent and they all stared at him, expecting him to say something like 'BOO!'. But he didn't. He looked at Chiron in the eye and said "Ophiotaurus".

Chiron raised an eyebrow.

Perseus stood up and walked to the front, where a blackboard was present. He drew a circle and divided it into seven segments. He then created another segment.

He looked at them. "I will now explain to all of you how the situation went to shit."

A couple campers snickered. Chiron rolled his eyes at the blatant use of offending language.

Perseus wrote seven names in the circle, one in each segment. Kronos, Hyperion, Iapetus, Krios, Koios, Mnemosyne and Merediana. In the other segment, he wrote 'Ophiotaurus'.

"So, imagine these are the prisons in Tartarus." He covered Merediana's name by striking all over it. "A few years back, she escaped. And she inherited the body of...Derek!"

The campers looked intrigued. "Now, what you must understand is that she didn't actively control him always. She merely 'made' him do certain things. But I'm afraid that the incident done two weeks back was because she took full control over his body."

They looked at Derek with a little sympathy, feeling guilty that they had judged him so quickly, not bothering to think why he did it.

Thalia finally understood why he had suddenly apologised to her. He must have regained control briefly. She felt guilty for treating him badly even when she knew it wasn't his fault.

"So, to make sure I didn't find out, they placed a fake inside her cell. I didn't even realise...bloody thing. Anyway, a few years later, poof, Hyperion is gone. Soon the mother fucker frees Krios, Iapetus and also manages to steal almost two thirds of Kronos' essence. As of right now, the prison is in complete lockdown. Even I cannot enter if I wanted to."

The campers looked at each other and gulped nervously. Luke fiddled with the hilt of his sword, wondering how they could ever win against such a great force.

Annabeth twirled her dagger around, watching the light bounce off of it in different angles. She started to formulate strategies to take down the titans. She had done some fair amount of research on them already.

Perseus walked back to his seat and promptly plopped on it, causing a slight creak in the woodworks. Chiron stared at him. "That isn't your throne Perseus, it's a wooden chair. It can break."

Perseus rolled his eyes at Chiron's old ways. "You're going senile old man! Nothin' will happen. Chill."

Chiron sighed. Some things never change.

Perseus clapped his hands. "Okay, back to the point"

"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said.

"That's not the point Chiron." Perseus snarked.

Everyone looked at Dionysus. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

"Derek is right," Silena Beauregard said. "Two campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoe said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoe scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"

Silena started to get out of her chair, but Luke pulled her back, earning a jab to the ribs from Annabeth, who was feeling jealous no doubt.

"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He was a big guy with a bigger voice. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people tended to listen. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"

Zoe stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked cautiously.

Zoe nodded.

"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor added..

"Yes," Zoe snapped. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Travis said. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"

Perseus knew the Stolls were up to something. He could sense centaur blood from a mile away. Any blood for that matter. But Zoe didn't seem to find anything wrong. She just sighed and took the T-shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."

Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But… I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"Thy will do fine," Zoe insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself."

Bianca closed her mouth. Thalia felt kind of sorry for her. She remembered that this was technically her first quest too. She felt totally unprepared. A little honored, maybe, but a lot resentful and plenty scared. She figured the same things were running around in Bianca's head right now.

"And for the campers?" Chiron asked. His eyes met mine, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoe wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

Grover deflated and sat down.

"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.

"And I'll go too." Derek said. Everyone looked at him.

"You cannot," Zoe said. "You are a boy. I won't have Hunters traveling with a boy."

"You traveled here with me," Derek reminded her.

"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess. I will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a boy. Especially not after what he tried to do to Bianca."

Perseus snapped. He grew angry. Zoe was being a prejudiced bitch. She knew full well that it wasn't his fault. Hell, he'd just explained to them how it happened.

"Stop being a bitch Zoe Nightshade. I've explained why it happened. Let him come with us. He can redeem himself by proving his worth. I'm taking him, whether you like it or not."

He abruptly stood from the chair, sending it falling to the ground. He walked out of the room, banging it as he closed it. The councillors looked at each other nervously.

Luke rubbed the back of his head. "So...yeah. We're done right?"

"So be it," Chiron said. "Thalia, Derek and Perseus will accompany Zoe, Bianca, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods"—he glanced at Dionysus—"present company included, we hope—be with you."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N :

So...at the moment, the polls are as follows.

Hestia: 5

Thalia: 2

Bianca: 2

Annabeth: 2

Percabeth, Perlia and Peranca fans better hurry. The poll closes in a week. That's right people. Seven days.