Finally, the crap hits the fan this chapter. As always, please review and comment on things you like, don't like, and maybe what you'd like to see done with the story…I'll admit, this chapter differed from my original plans a little bit because people asked me to take care of something. So I do listen to you all.

As a heads up for those who aren't sure who some of the deities are, Aigaios was mentioned in the PJO series as the deity that helped protect the Princess Andromeda from Poseidon. Perses and Pallas are both titans of warfare in a sense.

Hope you all enjoy.

Hero of Olympus

Nico-POV

Nico dropped out of the shadows near the woods of Camp Half-blood. He was covered in sweat and his knees felt like they wanted to give out on him. He had just came from the Underworld where he had been training with Percy, his father, Athena, and Rhea…or it might be more accurate to say he had been helping to train Percy. Over the past year, Nico would travel to the Underworld normally every other day to give a hand in training Percy, summoning up the dead to join into the fight and sometimes even charging Percy on his own while Percy fought the others. Nico had grown in power from the training as well, he was arguably more powerful than Jason and Thalia, but not by much. He had no idea how Percy had grown so powerful. In the past he had said that Percy was the strongest demigod he had ever known, but even he didn't realize how far Percy could take his powers. Unfortunately for Nico that meant that when he was training with the deities and Percy he was often left exhausted and hurting. That was okay though because he would go back to the surface world and recover while keeping an eye out for any signs of Oceanus or his troops.

"Nico?" a voice asked as Nico was walking towards the Hades cabin, causing Nico to stop. "You look like you've been fighting Clarisse or something." Will Solace continued as he came closer. Upon looking Nico up and down, he continued, "Or maybe the entire Ares cabin…what in the gods names have you been doing?"

"Oh, you know. Went to visit my dad, he had me run some errands." Nico said, nonchalantly. He hated lying to Will, but he knew it was best that no one else knew what was going on. Not yet at least. There was far too much at risk, chief among them being that Athena, Rhea, and Hades were conspiring against Zeus, seeing as they had no actual proof that there was a war coming. Luckily, Will always understood when Nico withheld information or the truth.

"If you say so. I just came to ask if we were still going to dinner tonight in Manhattan? Will asked.

"Yeah, of course. I just need to take a shower…and take a nap. But we're definitely still on. I just need to check on a few things in New York City while we're there." Nico replied.

"You and your mysteries, I'll never pretend I know what all goes on inside your head, Nico." Will joked, causing Nico to smile, something only Will could make him do regularly. "I'll meet you at Thalia's Tree around seven?" Nico nodded his head and Will gave him a quick smile before he left to catch up with the rest of his cabin.

Nico finished his walk back to the Hades cabin and quickly showered, before he went and lay down in bed. He was excited about his date, but he was also dreading checking the hidden entrance to the Underworld, it was always a hassle. But it was necessary to make sure nothing was sneaking out underneath everyone's noses.

Oceanus-POV

Oceanus watched as his forces prepared themselves. Soon they would storm the Underworld, and Hades and Athena would be able to do little to stop them. If all went to plan, by the end of the night, Oceanus and his forces would have taken the Underworld, they would have poured into the service world and claimed back Mount Othrys, and he would eliminate the most powerful demigods and with luck the two Olympians that were prepared for his forces. He turned to look at the other titans and primordial gods who had gathered around him, waiting to receive their assignments from him in the upcoming attack. "Aigaios, what do you have to report?" Oceanus asked.

"We could not have asked for a more opportune moment, my lord. It appears many of our targets are actually together. Both the children of Zeus, the daughter of Aphrodite, the daughter of Athena, the son of Hephaestus, and that traitorous child of Atlas are all together in the city. What's better, we have reason to believe that the son of Hades will soon be in the city as well." Aigaios replied, causing a sinister smile to appear on Oceanus's face.

"Good, the son of Hades will likely run to warn his father. I would suspect Hades would send Athena to investigate, as she would draw less attention. What of our forces in Manhattan, are they ready to spring the trap?"

"Yes my lord, they merely await your signal." Aigaios replied.

"Then tonight, we shall strike a blow to the pretentious Olympians. Tonight, we let them know that their time to rule has all but expired and that it is once again time for a new age, one where we will reign supreme again." The gathered deities let out a battle cry. "Nyx, ready your shades, Perses and Pallas, ready yourselves. Erebrus, lead our forces to victory, take the Underworld." Again, a battle cry went up among the deities, but this time it was picked up and carried on throughout the rest of the gathered forces of monsters. The sound would have terrified even the strongest of the Olympians. Oceanus simply smiled again, the thoughts of their rise filling him with pure pleasure. Tonight would be a night to remember.

Percy-POV

Percy walked around his room. It had been several hours since they had finished training for the day and Percy, having grown accustomed to constantly being pushed past exhaustion, was already rested and ready to go again. He knew the others weren't though, and that he'd have to wait till tomorrow for another group training exercise. He thought about training by himself, he often trained his powers by himself, but something seemed to hold him back, he didn't feel it was a good day to tire himself out anymore. Instead, he had opted to study battle strategy's and fighting styles Athena had told him to look into. When he had grown bored of that, he went to cleaning his new armor and shield. The armor was light, actually melding into actual clothes when he wanted to wear it without being noticed. It was a white shirt beneath a black, hooded jacket and black pants, complete with black combat boots. When it was in its actual armor form, it was a mix of black, gold, silver, and bronze in color. It had been a gift from Hades and Athena. They had somehow convinced Hephaestus to make it himself, despite having no idea what it was for. Percy had to admit, it was amazing. The main sections of it were made out of Celestial bronze, while Stygian iron plates crossed over some of the bigger sections like the chest and back providing an additional layer of protection. The accent on the edges of the armor was in Imperial gold, and the chainmail links underneath it all were silver. The shield he had received was done in a similar fashion and like the shield Tyson had given him so long ago, it morphed into a watch. But as if that weren't enough, they had taken Riptide from him and had Hephaestus change it as well (how the god didn't notice what weapon he was working on was beyond Percy). The sword was still the same old Riptide as far as balance went, but it was longer now, and its old Celestial bronze blade was now fused with Stygian iron, Imperial gold, and silver as well, giving him the strengths of all the metals.

Percy had been speechless when they presented him with it, and he tried to refuse it, saying he didn't deserve it. Athena, Hades, Rhea, and even Nico had all just shook their heads at him. When Athena spoke to him about it, Percy didn't know what to say. He could still remember her words, "Percy, you deserve this. I know you're humble, and to don this armor on will make you stand out, but you need to stand out. When the time comes and you return above, you won't be returning the same you left. When you return, you will be the strongest demigod that has ever lived, with power that rivals even the strongest of gods. So accept your gift, Perseus Jackson, and where it with pride." He had been stunned at that moment, and even more so when he saw everyone agreeing with her statement. He'd be lying if he said he didn't get a little teary eyed.

As he put the armor on, he felt a godly presence behind him. "Fitting for the soon to be General." Rhea said. Percy chuckled at her statement. He wondered how Zeus would feel about giving Percy a title like that.

Percy willed the armor to change into his jacket, and put on his shield watch. He turned to face Rhea. "It's an incredible suit of armor. Plus it makes it even less likely I'll take any damage to my Achilles heel."

"Indeed, I think that's why they wanted to give it to you, to try and protect you as best they could." Rhea said. Percy knew that had been part of their intentions, after all the small of his back was now covered in silver chainmail beneath a solid plate of Celestial bronze with a plate of Stygian iron crossing over it. It was probably the most heavily armored spot in all his armor, but not so much as to draw attention to it. It was clever, and Percy was sure Athena had thought long and hard about having it made in such a way. "I wanted to tell you that I hadn't forgotten about you, I to have a gift for you, but it is separate from Athena and Hades."

"I don't need anymore gifts, Rhea. I didn't even deserve this armor-"

"That's where you're wrong, Percy. You deserve it, and I can help you even more, give you one last gift to hopefully keep you safe." Rhea looked down to the ground and shook her head, while chuckling. Percy was about to ask what she was talking about when she continued. "I will be of little help when the actual war comes, I've never been a strong fighter. You and I both know that. But I am a titaness and I do have my own abilities."

"I know, and don't down yourself, Rhea. Without you, I probably wouldn't be alive, they would have gotten me a long time ago." Percy said, trying to lift the deity's spirits. She chuckled.

"When Pan faded, some of his essence entered you, didn't it?" She asked. Percy was taken aback by the randomness of the question, but nodded his head. "I'm not sure if you ever noticed, but that had some effect on you. Your senses are sharper, giving you the blessing of the wild. I can do the same and enhance those gifts further. I can give you my blessing, Percy. I can transfer a great deal of my essence into you. It will weaken me, as you will become my champion, but as I stated, I was never going to be much use in a fight anyway."

Percy was stunned. He finally asked, "How much would it weaken you?"

"I intend to give you as much of my blessing as I can. In effect, I will be about as powerful as any demigod from the camps. In a fight against anything or anybody powerful, I will stand no chance, but I never did in the first place. Combat isn't my specialty."

"What would your blessing do?" Percy asked.

"I am the titaness of the mountains wilds. My blessing would be much like Pan's, complementing it and strengthening it. Your senses would grow even more powerful and your body would become more suitable to the harsher wilds. You would be slightly stronger and faster, and your body would heal a little bit quicker meaning you would need less need for a rest."

Percy looked at Rhea and they shared an unspoken communication. Rhea was never going to be much help in the war, but if she gave Percy her blessing like she spoke of doing, he could actually put it to use. He hated that it would leave her more vulnerable, but he knew she was willing to take the risk. Finally he asked, "So how do you give me your blessing?"

Rhea smiled at him. "Simple, I ask if you will be my champion and accept my blessing."

Percy returned her smile, "Of course, Rhea." Then he felt a strange sensation inside himself that burned, not in an unpleasant way but strange enough that he had to shut his eyes. Suddenly the world seemed to become a little sharper. The sounds around him became more distinct, the smells more noticeable, the way the air felt against his skin was more prominent. When he opened his eyes, he felt like he was seeing the world for the first time. The details around him were sharper and he could see much more clearly for a much further distance. He no longer noticed just an energy that signaled him a deity was present, but he could feel the nature of the presence, he knew it was Rhea. He could feel another presence not far off and he immediately knew it was Hades based on the aura of death. He smiled at his new feelings. Rhea was right to think it would give him an advantage in a fight.

"How do you feel?" Rhea asked him.

"Like a new person." Percy replied. He walked to his armor and felt the metal, noticing tiny details that he had missed before. "This is incredible." He said.

"I just hope it serves you well. We're going to need you in this war, and we're going to need you at your very best." Rhea said placing a hand on Percy's shoulder. When Percy turned to look at her he saw a proud smile and tears forming in her eyes.

"Thanks to you guys, I'll be ready. I couldn't have asked for any better trainers." Percy enveloped Rhea in a hug as he spoke. He could feel the titaness cry slightly. In the time that had passed he had come to view Rhea as a second mom. Technically, she was his grandmother, but Percy had grown very close to her, and he knew she had grown very close to him. After all, she did just give him part of her godly powers.

After breaking apart from their embrace, Rhea dried her eyes and shot Percy one more proud smile before saying, "Hades and Athena were wanting me to come get you for dinner, I think Athena had an idea for a new training exercise."

Percy laughed before he sarcastically said, "Oh great, just what I like to hear." which earned a chuckle from Rhea. "I'll be there shortly, just give me a minute." Rhea nodded and left. Percy then took off his clothes and willed his armor to change into its regular clothes. After putting it all on he checked himself out in the mirror. If he was being honest with himself, he thought he looked pretty cool. And with that thought he walked out of his room, flipping up his hood to hide his face and walking towards the dining room.

Annabeth-POV

Annabeth, Leo, Calypso, Piper, Jason, Thalia, and Chance just left from a restaurant when Annabeth noticed a familiar couple heading towards Central Park. Knowing it was late, Annabeth was a little curious and wanted to know what they were up to. "Hey, there's Nico and Will." She said, earning everyone's attention.

Thalia quickly got a wicked smile. "Ol' Deathbreath himself. What do you say we go give them a little scare, after all it's dangerous to walk in the park this late at night."

"Absolutely not, Thalia." Piper quickly said, earning a pout from Thalia and a laugh from everyone else.

As Thalia opened her mouth to complain about not being able to scare Nico and Will, Annabeth interrupted by jogging towards the couple and hollered, "Hey Nico, Will, wait up will you." The couple stopped and looked around till they spotted Annabeth and the rest of the group coming towards them.

When Annabeth made it to them, Will shot her a smile before waving to the others that were arriving. "What's up?" he asked.

"We were actually wondering what you guys were up to, heading off into the park this late…" Leo started, "You know, if you're looking for some privacy, I could tell you a few places Calypso and I have-" he didn't get to finish his sentence as Calypso's hand landed hard against his cheek, causing the gathered group to laugh.

After everyone calmed down and Calypso had scolded Leo and informed everyone that what her boyfriend had insinuated was not true, Annabeth finally asked again, "So what are you to up too? I haven't talked to you in forever, Nico. I've been meaning to ask how everything's going in the Underworld." Annabeth watched as Nico flinched from her comment, and it struck her as odd. She also didn't fail to notice he was avoiding eye contact with her.

"It's…it's been pretty busy. Dad's got me running a lot of errands for him. That's actually what we were doing, I have to go check the entrance to the Underworld, make sure no one's been using it recently." He said slowly, like he was trying to choose his words carefully.

"Is your dad afraid someone's been breaking in?" Jason asked. Neither him nor the others seemed to pick up on Nico's secretive behavior.

"He's just a little paranoid is all. Ever since the titan war when me and Per-when we used it to sneak in before the Battle of Manhattan, dad likes to make sure no one else uses it to sneak by him." Nico said, and Annabeth felt a small pang of sadness at the almost mentioning of Percy. It was something the group still hadn't grown used to.

"Do you guys want some extra company? Haven't talked to you both in awhile." Piper asked. Annabeth watched as Nico's eyes came up and got wide, and she was sure he was about to say no, but Will beat him to answering.

"Yeah, you guys can come, we already got to hangout for awhile anyway. It'll be nice to catch up, I hardly ever see you guys at camp anymore." Will said.

Annabeth watched as Nico paled (which for someone already as pale as Nico was quite a feat). For some reason she couldn't identify, Nico's behavior was making her uncomfortable, like he was truly hiding something and that something was making him nervous being around everyone. And the fact that he avoided her eyes over everyone else's made Annabeth all the more frustrated. As they all walked into the park, catching up and joking around, Nico stayed silent and slightly ahead of everyone, and Annabeth stayed quiet watching him.

Nico-POV

Nico cursed under his breath. He was good at keeping secrets, he always had been, but hiding the fact that Percy was alive from the people that cared about him and missed him the most made even Nico feel an overwhelming amount of guilt. Annabeth's presence especially unnerved him. He could still feel her eyes burning into the back of his head. She was good at analyzing situations and people, and he knew she sensed his discomfort and awkwardness. His only hope was to stay quiet and not have any one ask him what he had been up to lately, because he wasn't real sure he could come up with a story fast enough to cover himself.

Unfortunately for Nico, Jason finally asked, "So, Nico, you've barely said a word man. What have you been up to?"

Nico's hands went sweaty as he quickly replied, "Really it's just been a whole lot of running around for my dad, he seems to have a never ending to do list for me." Jason laughed at his answer, and Nico allowed himself to smile, hopeful that he had given enough to satisfy everyone's curiosity, but it wasn't enough for Annabeth.

"Last time I met up with Poseidon, he had mentioned that your father had become very reclusive lately…and so has my mom. I had been meaning to ask her what she's been up to, but when I was working on Olympus the other day, I couldn't find her. Hermes said she'd been traveling a lot to the Underworld to have an audience with your dad. Do you know anything about that?" She asked.

Nico felt his nauseas for a moment, her question was too direct for him to be vague, and he highly doubted he could lie well enough to fool Annabeth. "I-uh…I did run into her the other day, on my way out. She didn't say much to me, or anything, but that was the only time I saw her there. I don't know about making multiple-"

"You're a bad liar, Deathbreath." Thalia interrupted. Nico looked back at the group to find them all staring at him with burning curiosity as they now all knew he was trying to hide something. "How about you just spill it and we can all move on?"

"Really, I have…" Nico started but stopped as he felt a disturbance nearby, coming from the direction of the tunnel. "Something's here. It's leaving the tunnel." He stated, causing everyone to divert their attention. Nico quickly jogged closer to the tunnel entrance and what he saw was something he didn't quite understand.

"What in Zeus' name-" Thalia started.

"Shades…" Annabeth said, giving the three cloaked figures a hard look.

"Nyx's creations," Nico said in horror, "no, this isn't good." He turned towards the group. "I need everyone to pray to Athena, tell her we need her in Central Park."

"What? Why do we-" Chance asked.

"Just do it." Nico replied and closed his eyes and began praying.

Athena-POV

The conversation around Athena seemed to fade. She could still hear Percy, Hades, and Rhea, but at the same time she was hearing something else. She couldn't make it out at first, but after a moment she realized she was hearing prayers. When she heard what they were saying, her face dropped. Percy was the first to notice it.

"Something wrong, Athena?" he asked. The goddess quickly nodded her head.

"Nico has several others praying, they say Nyx's minions are at the entrance to the Underworld." She replied as she stood up.

"Nyx's minions, how many and what exactly are they?" Percy asked. Before Athena could speak, Hades answered him.

"Shades, creatures of darkness and magic. They're not exactly powerful foes, but Nyx is crafty with them. Nico was smart to contact us." Hades said. Athena nodded in agreement with him.

Athena answered Percy's other question with, "I'm unsure the number, but from what I can gather, its very few, which has Nico even more alarmed. I need to get there, maybe I can figure out what they have planned." She then turned and looked at Percy who was getting up from his seat. "I'll go alone, we have no reason to let them know we still have you just yet, I'll handle this."

Percy simply stared at her. She could see argument in his eyes, and she could tell he had a bad feeling about the situation, but she just couldn't risk Percy for something that could be so simple. She sighed in relief as sat back down. "Just be careful and send Nico back to get me if anything goes wrong." Was all he said. Athena nodded in response to him. Then without another word she flashed out of the Underworld and into Central Park.

Annabeth-POV

After a few minutes of praying, there was a flash of light in front of the group and Annabeth's mother stood in the clearing. Annabeth didn't know what to think, her mother was wearing full battle armor holding her spear and shield. She watched as the three shades turned towards Athena. Annabeth hurriedly stood up and went to stand beside her mother, drawing her knife as she did so. She wasn't surprised to see the others coming to stand by them as well, all of them producing some sort of weapon, even Chance and Calypso.

"Only three of them?" Athena asked. The tone of her voice was disbelief and troubled, something that made Annabeth very nervous. Her mother was supposed to always have an answer.

"That's what worried me. Something about it seems off." Nico replied, confirming Annabeth's prior suspicions that her mother had been in the Underworld recently and Nico knew something he wasn't sharing.

"Let us dispatch them quickly then, we can try and reason after they're no longer a threat." Athena replied. Annabeth watched as her mother stepped forward towards the Shades, but then Annabeth felt a chill as wind rushed past her and the Shades radiated darkness, covering them for a moment. When the darkness faded, the shades were no longer there, but three men were.

"Ah, lady Athena, we were expecting you." The man in the middle said with a smile. Annabeth could see he had horns and a beard, and she vaguely recognized him from books and statues. Just as she was about to say his name Athena, beat her to it.

"Oceanus…you-" Before the goddess could continue though, many things happened at once. From the trees around them a mix of arrows, barbs, and spears flew. Annabeth and the others all dove backwards escaping the onslaught, but Athena had no chance all of the attack seemed to be aimed at her.

"Mom!" Annabeth shouted as she watched it all tear through her mother's armor and shield. Athena dropped to her knees in mere moments, golden ichor pouring from her body. Annabeth knew her mother couldn't die, but that did little to stop her from feeling terrified as her mother desperately tried to keep herself on her knees. She finally fell to the ground with her eyes closed signaling she was unconscious.

"Contain her." Oceanus ordered. Monsters surged forward holding chains, but they stopped as Annabeth ran towards her mom, along with all the others. Annabeth looked at her mom and saw golden ichor poured from her wounds. "Well, isn't that admirable. Defending the goddess…kill them, and bring me Athena." And then the monsters charged again.

Thalia and Will both began picking off dracanae archers with their bows in hopes to protect everyone else, but there were too many. Arrows and other projectiles flew at the demigods from all directions, forcing them to duck and dodge as best they could. As the archers kept firing, Annabeth realized the only way they stood any chance was to take the fight to the monsters, at least then they couldn't shoot arrows at them without taking a chance to kill their own soldiers. "Charge them, they won't be able to fire." She shouted. Nico and Jason were the first to respond, rolling under arrows and hitting the line of monsters hard, stygian iron and imperial gold swords claiming the nearest monsters lives. Annabeth ducked an arrow and dove between two hellhounds, barely making it by their snapping teeth. She drove her dagger into one's stomach, killing it, but before she could kill the second one it had her pinned and was going for her throat. Then an arrow pierced it right behind its head and it disintegrated. Annabeth didn't know if it was Thalia or Will who had saved her, but she didn't turn to find out. She was about to charge back into the fight when water surged from nowhere, engulfing her and dragging her back to the center of the clearing.

For a moment, Annabeth thought she would drown, but then the water slammed her down hard into the grass. Her breath was knocked out of her and she felt like a car had just hit her. She looked up to see the others gasping for air on the ground beside her.

"You all fight as if you actually stand a chance." Oceanus voice called out. Annabeth looked over to him and saw him smirking. "I brought down the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy without losing a single soldier, and yet you still fight. Why not accept the inevitable? It would be easier."

"I need you guys to buy me some time." Nico whispered just loud enough for the others to hear.

"Wh-what?" Jason coughed out, spitting up water as he tried to rise from the ground.

"If I can shadow travel to the Underworld, I can bring help." Nico replied.

"Then go. We can't buy you very long, you'll have to hurry." Annabeth told him. She had no idea what his plan was or who he could possibly bring back to help other than his father, but if he had a plan, she was willing to try it. He nodded his head in understanding, and then, Jason and Thalia called down lighting, striking the nearest monsters and buying the others enough time to get back up. Leo blasted a hellhound with a fireball, obliterating it. Then all of them charged again except for Thalia and Will who again stayed behind to try and cover them as best they could. Annabeth realized she didn't see Chance anywhere, and she feared the worst, but she couldn't dwell on that fact at the moment. Annabeth found herself beside Piper and the two double-teamed a Laistrygonian. Piper managed to distract it by charmspeaking it to look her way, and Annabeth stabbed it in the base of the spine, twisting her dagger to completely sever it, killing the giant.

"Annabeth, behind you!" she heard Piper yell. Annabeth turned just in time to see a Cyclops back hand her sending her backwards a good five feet. The Cyclops was right on top of her, about to crush her when a bolt of lighting caught it in the chest, causing it to stagger back. Annabeth wasted no time in climbing back to her feet and killing the Cyclops.

Just when Annabeth thought the group was doing pretty well, and she began believing they might just win, another wave of water appeared, sweeping her up and slamming her back into the ground. As she looked up, she realized there were still hundreds of monsters, and the titans hadn't even moved to fight aside from Oceanus hitting them with his waves. She realized that the titan was only toying with them, and that it was only a matter of time before he grew tired of it and killed them.

As if reading her mind, Oceanus said, "I grow tired of your struggle, I do not have an infinite number of troops to spare, otherwise I would keeping throwing them at you for the fun of it. Unfortunately for us all, this has to end soon." He then gestured with his hand towards the group. "Perses, Pallas, eliminate them."

The other two titans were eager to respond, drawing their swords and charging towards the group. As an arrow flew at one of the approaching titans, he ducked it and yelled, "Get rid of archer!" A moment later, several arrows flew in Thalia's way, and although she was able to dodge most of them, one caught her in the shoulder, causing her to drop her bow, and one caught her in her leg dropping her to the ground.

"Thalia!" Jason yelled angrily. He turned to charge the two titans, but it was foolish. Everyone knew Jason didn't stand a chance, and the two titans barely made an effort. They blocked his furious strikes before disarming him, sending his sword tumbling through the air and impaling in the ground dangerously close to Thalia. One of the titans then grabbed Jason's sword arm, twisted it behind his back and forced it upwards. The resulting snap and cry of pain made Annabeth want to throw up. The titan threw Jason to the ground, eliciting another cry of pain. Piper rushed towards him, but again, water caught her and threw her back to the ground, close to where she had been.

"You know, it was admirable, that is your attempt to give the son of Hades a chance to go get help while you all held the line. But I am curious, how is that plan faring for you young mister DiAngelo?" Oceanus said with an evil grin. Annabeth turned to see Nico stepping out of the shadows with a scowl on.

"What did you do?" he demanded. Annabeth felt herself go numb, had Nico not been able to go get help? Did that mean they truly were all going to die?

"Erebus and Nyx have more control over the shadows and darkness than you could ever hope to possess, child. You will not be shadow traveling anytime soon." Oceanus replied. Annabeth felt all her hope fade away, no help was coming, no one was going to escape. "Besides, I think that even if you were to go asking your daddy for help that you would find he is plenty busy himself. You see, by the end of tonight, the Underworld will be mine, you will all be dead, and Athena, Hades, and Persephone will all be chained in Tartarus." Annabeth felt the entire groups moral plummet. Jason and Thalia were basically incapacitated, and everyone else was exhausted and already hurt. In Annabeth's eyes, their situation couldn't look darker. "All is not lost for you though. I do have an offer," Oceanus continued, "swear allegiance to me and prove yourself and I will not only let you live, but I will give you more power than you have ever dreamed of."

Nico was the first to respond. "You can forget about it, I'd rather die a hundred times than to serve a monster like you." Annabeth nodded her head in agreement. She didn't even to bother glancing at the others; she knew they all stood together.

Oceanus seemed to find interest in something though as he looked at the group. Annabeth couldn't tell what he was thinking, but at the moment it was buying them time and Annabeth could only hope someone would come. "I can see the hesitation in you, and I tell you to do it. I can give you everything; you will have power over the world, sitting just below the titans and primordial gods. No woman could resist you." The titan said.

Then several things clicked into place for Annabeth. Only one person in the clearing could possibly be motivated to betray the human race for the promise of power and affection, only one person would be foolish enough to trust a titan. She hadn't seen him, but that didn't mean he still wasn't alive. She heard Calypso shout her name, but she wasn't able to turn fast enough as Chance's knife plunged itself into her ribs.

She stumbled back before falling to the ground; her entire stomach and side feeling like it were on fire. She looked into Chance's eyes and she could see his lust, she could see his greed. As he stared back at her, he said, "Sorry, Annabeth, but we both knew we weren't going to get anywhere anyway." She saw the others run towards her, but Nico and Leo were both caught by the two titans who quickly knocked them both to the ground, swords planted at their necks. Piper was hit by a wave of water so hard it sent her flying into a tree and she didn't get back up, Annabeth didn't know if she was dead or just unconscious. Calypso and Will got the closest, but a laistrygonian caught them both. He grabbed both of them in a chokehold putting one in each arm. Annabeth knew this was it, they were all defeated, wounded, close to their deaths. It seemed so stupid to her, after everything she had been through, after everything they had all been through…just to be betrayed by their supposed friend, a man who had told her he loved her and always would.

"I allow you the first kill, mortal. Earn my favor." Oceanus demanded. With one last look into her eyes, Chance pulled the dagger out of her and positioned it at her throat.

"Such a shame, I thought you were so beautiful." He whispered. She closed her eyes and thought one thing in her head.

I'll be with you soon, Percy.

Then the ground seemed to blow apart.

Percy-POV

Shortly after Athena left the invasion started. They were hopelessly outnumbered and out powered. Persephone and Rhea weren't much of fighters, but they were trying to hold their own valiantly. Hades was enraged, he didn't want to lose his palace and he fought like a mad man because of it. Percy himself fought with nothing held back, and the invading force suffered his wrath. But despite Hades and Percy's combined onslaught, as well as Hades army of the undead, Percy knew it was a losing battle, and he knew Hades was aware as well. They would have to initiate their failsafe, they would lure the army in as far as they could into the palace, and then they would collapse the palace with the Greek fire bombs that they had already placed throughout the structure. It made sense that the enemy would think of Hades as simple minded and to expect him to fight till the end for his domain, but Percy and Athena had talked him out of doing so long ago. Oceanus and his forces would win the Underworld, but it would cost them much more than what they had expected.

Somewhere during the battle though, Percy felt uneasy. Athena wasn't back, and he felt his skin tingling and his heart pounding, and it wasn't because of the battle he was engaged in. He felt it in his gut, he knew it was Annabeth and the others. He feared they were in just as much trouble as they were here. He remembered Athena saying Nico had others praying to her, and it made since that it could be Annabeth and his friends, and the fact that Athena still hadn't returned, despite his prayers (yeah a son of Poseidon praying to Athena, wouldn't want to see dad find out about that) to alert her, and that he felt his friends were in danger made him make a decision. He had turned to Hades in battle and told him he was taking the tunnel to Central Park, that he thought something was wrong. Hades had trusted his judgment and he had Alecto pack him to the entrance of the tunnel. The fury had been surprised to find out it was him, but she didn't have time for an explanation before she was flying back to help her master.

Now Percy was charging through the tunnel as fast as he could. He was winded from already battling, but his increasing fear for his friends well being kept him going as fast as possible. Along the way, he began to worry about opening the door without music, but and he tried to think of a solution. But in a split second, no thoughts mattered except for one that pierced his mind and filled his body with adrenalin. His side felt like it was on fire, and he knew Annabeth was hurt, his Annabeth, his anchor to the world.

He created wind to push him along even faster and had the ground begin to push him forward until he was moving as fast as he possibly could. He could see the stonewall signaling the end of the tunnel, but he didn't slow down. As he neared it, he let out a primitive scream and slammed into it, using his powers to shatter the earth and open the tunnel.

Jason-POV

Jason had already come to terms with death. He wasn't ready, but he knew his time was near. He wanted to go to Piper and hold her, to be with her till the end, but his body refused to move. The pain in his arm was to great to move. He saw Thalia struggling for her bow, but a dracanae came and picked up her bow before nocking an arrow in it and pointing it at Thalia. He wanted to yell at the dracanae and draw it away from his sister, but before he could he was rolled over by a Cyclops who had a large hammer poised to crush him. From his new view, Jason could see the traitor Chance pull his knife from Annabeth's side. He heard Oceanus tell Chance that the first kill belonged to him, and he watched with fury in his eyes as his supposed friend easily put his blade to Annabeth's throat. He didn't want to watch, but he couldn't bring himself to look away.

Just as he thought Chance was going to do it, the ground seemed to shatter, and debris flew everywhere. Part of the rock that came flying hit the Cyclops standing over him in the back and Jason heard the sickening crack of the monsters spine before it exploded into dust. But right after the rock and earth came a blast of wind that caused Jason to slide across the ground. Then he could see Annabeth again. Chance was picking himself off the ground and grabbing for his knife, but before he got to it a sword, the likes Jason had never seen before came down on Chance's hands. Chance's scream was the thing that seemed to jar everything back into reality.

"Kill them all!" Oceanus yelled. Jason saw the owner of the sword, a man in armor that matched his sword, turn and charge the incoming monsters. He quickly lost sight of the man, but he could hear the cries of monsters as they died fighting him. In a moment, Will was next to Jason. He began muttering something and Jason felt his arm begin to feel a little better. Then Will gave him nectar and a square of ambrosia.

"Help Nico and Thalia." Will said as the godly food and Will's magic healed Jason's arm. Will hurried off towards Annabeth, and Jason was on his feet quickly. He surveyed the battlefield and saw Thalia, who was now fighting with her spear and shield, and Nico double-teaming one of the titans, the other one was still trying to rise despite the rocks and earth that now covered him. Jason was bewildered. The blast the new fighter had caused had saved all their lives, and now they were back in the fight. Jason swore on the Styx he wouldn't waste the opportunity the man had given them and to prove he meant it he called a lightning bolt down on the titan trying to get up.

By the time Jason got to the titan he had blasted, the titan was back on his feet, and although shaken from the hits he had took, looked very angry. Luckily as he began to charge Jason, a fireball exploded in his face as Leo joined in to fight him. As Jason and Leo fought the titan, Jason managed to take a look at the battle while Leo went on the attack and kept the titan busy. Piper was back on her feet, something Jason was relieved to see, and was fighting monsters away from Will, who was treating Annabeth's wounds.

The thing that drew Jason's attention the most though was the new warrior who had saved them. Even from the distance Jason was from him, he could feel anger and fury radiating off of him, and that seemed to only fuel his attacks. The ground would obey him, shifting to throw his enemies off balance or to help him maneuver to strike another enemy down. The winds smashed against his opponents and guided his strikes and movement. Jason even saw a bolt of lighting shoot down and disintegrate a Cyclops. Jason could have watched the man in awe forever, but Leo's shout brought him back into his own fight. As Leo smashed his hammer against the titan's sword, Jason struck out, and although the titan was fast enough to block his strike too, he stumbled back. Jason felt a crazy grin stretch across his face. Maybe they had a chance after all.

Percy-POV

To say he was enraged was an understatement. From the moment he had stepped foot out of the tunnel and saw his friends lying hurt and broken on the ground, when he saw Athena bloodied and unconscious, when he saw the man that had hurt his Annabeth trying to finish the job, all exhaustion had left his body. Pure, fury swept through him. He was wild. After he sliced off Chance's hands (he wanted to come back to the traitor later), Percy turned and charged the entire army gathered. Arrows flew at him and despite being invincible except for his back, Percy used his shield to block them until he crashed into the first wave of monsters. Riptide found its way through four different monsters in one swing, and Percy hit a dracanae so hard with his shield that he could hear bone shatter before the monster disintegrated. He used the winds, the earth, and even lighting to kill everything in his path. More and more monsters charged him, but Percy's anger seemed to be a never-ending fuel source for his energy.

Percy felt the titans Perses and Pallas fighting four of his friends, and Percy knew that if the battle continued his friends would begin to lose ground. The titans of war were simply too powerful and experienced. So Percy made a decision. He collapsed his shield and stabbed a Telekhine, taking its sword as it disintegrated. Then he blasted the surrounding monsters back with a gust of air and he turned towards the titans. He charged them.

He met the first titan that Nico and Thalia were fighting head on. The moment Percy stepped into the fight Nico stopped his attacks and yelled, "Let him handle this, Thalia. Lets go help the others." Percy saw both of them run off and then he focused fully on the titan in front of him. Percy was more than a match for the deity, he caught the titans blows with ease and quickly began to push the titan back. As their fight approached Leo and Jason fighting the other titan, Percy saw that his friends were beginning to lose their own fight. He ducked under the titan he was fighting before using the earth and winds to slam his armored shoulder into the titans stomach. Once he made contact he kept pushing until he plowed between Jason and Leo and into the titan they were fighting. He gave one final shove and it sent both titans on their backs. As they quickly got up, Percy glanced at Jason and moved his head towards the others. Jason seemed to understand because he took off in that direction, calling Leo after him. Then Percy turned back to the other two titans. They looked furious, and with a yell they charged.

The titans combined onslaught was enough to force Percy to give up ground at first. It was all he could do to block and parry their strikes, but they never gave him an opportunity to strike. The sword Percy had taken from the Telekhine was slowly becoming unusable, the blade was bent out of shape from the repeated beatings it had taken from the titans' blows. Percy simply dodged a strike and used the earth and wind to carry him back away from the titans and then he threw the bent sword at one of them. It caught the titan off guard and the still sharp tip pierced his shoulder. Instead of golden ichor though, it was only a black liquid. The other titan charged Percy, but Percy snapped his shield back into position just as the titan swung his sword down. Percy deflected the sword away and shield bashed the titan in the face. Before he could strike out with Riptide though, the other titan was back in the fight and Percy was forced to defend again. Percy began to lose ground again as the fight was being pushed back towards the others and the monsters, but Percy was in no way simply defending anymore. Catching most the blows on his shield, Percy would be able to retaliate with Riptide, or sometimes he would simply use the shield as a club, staggering the titan it made contact with.

Percy slowly began to feel himself grow tired though. He had been fighting in the Underworld, and his trip up to the surface had been at a breakneck speed. And since he had been on the surface, he had been fighting relentlessly. Now facing the two titans, he felt his arms beginning to burn. He could sense the battle still raging around them and he knew that they were still outnumbered, even if they were doing a lot better. Percy realized he needed to come up with something to end the fight quickly, before he and his friends grew to tired to keep fighting.

Right as he was about to be pushed back all the way into the army of monsters, Percy shifted the ground to where it spun him and the titans around so that they had their backs to the monsters. It also caught them off guard and sent them off balance. Percy took the opportunity to shield bash one hard enough to send him crashing into his own troops. Then Percy blocked the other titan's attack on his shield, pushing the blade's momentum to the side and leaving the titan undefended. Riptide came up in diagonal slash, starting at the titans left side and cleaving up all the way through his chest and shoulder. Black liquid poured from the wound before the titan turned to a black silhouette and vanished.

"I will not be beaten by a bunch of demigods!" Oceanus yelled. Percy felt the amount of power Oceanus was summoning and he quickly realized this was the chance he had been waiting for. As Oceanus let loose a torrent of water aimed at Percy and his friends, Percy used the earth to throw his friends backwards and away from the monsters. Then he concentrated on the water Oceanus was sending towards him. He knew Oceanus had no idea that he was fighting Percy, and therefore Oceanus had no idea that Percy could control the water too. So Oceanus had focused everything on his attack, and it was simple for Percy to simply redirect it up and back, soaking every bit of the monster army in water. The move caught Oceanus off guard, and Percy was able to see a split second of confusion. Then Percy summoned all the anger and rage he had left in him and with a primitive yell he called down a bolt of lighting that would have rivaled Zeus's master bolt. He caught the bolt on Riptide before he plunged the blade into the wet ground. The following explosion of electricity blinded Percy and the force threw him back. He lost consciousness before he hit the ground.

Annabeth-POV

Even though the man had pushed them all back and away from him, the explosion still sent the rest of the group backwards through the air. All Annabeth could hear for a few moments was a ringing in her ears. Slowly she was able to blink back the white dots that danced across her vision and the ringing began to fade. The first thing she noticed was how eerily quiet the clearing had become. She could hear her friends groaning and an occasional cough, but other than that it was silent. She managed to sit up and found that the clearing was charred and smoking, some of the surrounding trees had been splintered from the blast. There were no more monsters, only various remains. As she climbed to her feet, Annabeth heard a moan. She turned and saw Chance still lying towards the back of the clearing. He seemed to be trying to crawl away as best he could without hands. Annabeth then turned and looked towards where Oceanus had been earlier. She was shocked to see him still there, but he seemed to be struggling to stand. Her friends were beginning to get back up, and they all noticed Oceanus too. They all began going for their weapons, but then there was a flash of light and when it faded, Hades, Persephone, and another woman stood in the clearing as well. Hades looked awful, he looked old and tired and his face was covered in cuts and bruises. Persephone and the other woman didn't look as bad as him as far as being tired, but they seemed just as beat up.

"Dad." Nico said as he stumbled towards his father.

Oceanus looked up to see Hades and the other deities in front of him and his face morphed into a deep scowl. "What are you doing here? Your home is being attacked." The titan said.

"No, Oceanus, my home was attacked. I lost that fight, and you won. But I don't think you'll find it as you expected to." Hades said, a smile gracing his lips despite his condition. Annabeth had to let herself smile as well. This was obviously not something Oceanus had expected.

"No, it's your home. You wouldn't leave it-you weren't supposed to leave it. You and Persephone were supposed to stay and defend it until-"

"Until we were beaten and your forces captured us. Yes I'm aware. Trust me, I wanted to stay and continue fighting, but I was told that it wasn't the most tactile of decisions, that I would be of more use if I were still able to fight even after the inevitable fall of the Underworld." Hades interrupted. Annabeth's smile grew, she knew her mother had been the brain behind that plan. Hades looked around the clearing again before chuckling. "This was probably going just as you had hoped up until he arrived, wasn't it. You had Athena defeated, the demigods probably didn't stand a chance." Oceanus grew angry at that comment, and he began to rise, but Hades, Persephone, and the other deity (Annabeth was pretty sure she recognized her as Rhea, the titan mother of the elder gods) raised their hands. "Join your forces below, uncle. Celebrate your victory while you can." Hades spat. Then all three deities blasted Oceanus with godly energy, incinerating him.

"Good riddance." Thalia said from beside Annabeth. Hades and Rhea moved to check on Athena, and Annabeth was about to turn and go deal with Chance when Thalia said, "No, please…I want to deal with him." The way she said it, venom in her voice and anger in her eyes, Annabeth almost felt sorry for Chance as she nodded her head giving her permission.

"Annabeth, we're taking your mother to Olympus, Apollo needs to attend to her and Zeus needs to know there is a war that he can no longer ignore." Hades said as he scooped Athena up in his arms. Annabeth nodded.

"You'll take care of her?" she asked the god.

"Yes." Hades answered. He took one more look around the clearing before adding, "You all fought well and the Olympians are lucky to have you on our side." Then he flashed away along with Rhea and Persephone. Annabeth looked around the clearing. She saw Thalia doing gods know what to Chance, but other than that, everyone was with the person they loved. Jason was holding Piper, Will and Nico were locked in an embrace, and even Leo and Calypso were kissing. Annabeth understood it, they were all thankful to be alive and to be with each other, but it sent a pang of sadness up her as well. She turned towards the unconscious man who had saved them and saw that he was stirring slightly. Annabeth thought he might come to soon, and she wanted to thank him. She began walking towards him and she noticed his armor was gone, but instead he had on regular clothes. She found it odd and noted it as a question she would ask him. As she got near him though, she noticed saw his raven black hair sticking out from his hood. Then she noticed the SPQR tattoo barely showing from underneath the sleeve of his jacket. Her breath came to a halt. He was groaning now, obviously waking up, but all Annabeth could focus on was this sounded like him. She dropped down next to him and gingerly reached out for his hood, slowly pulling it off his head. This finally brought him completely conscious and his sea green eyes shot open. He locked eyes with her and Annabeth thought the world had stopped turning.

"Percy?" She asked, still not able to believe what she was seeing.

His eyes were filled with sorrow, regret, and a mix of other emotions and he said, "Hey wisegirl."