A/N:

Goodsir:

Mr.P3pp3r: BAH SUWENYA! MONENI MI MAMA!

Lance: That was completely butchered. Not even close. Also, where the hell have you been?

Mr.P3pp3r: Believe it or not, I've actually been busy with college! That's right! I'm going to be in the same building as toxic-level chemicals! Do you know what that means?

Lance: I'm sure it would be enough for you to be put on the FBI watchlist.

Mr.P3pp3r: It means I can make fizzy pop!

Lance: Right, well when you're done ranting, we've got a show to do.

Mr.P3pp3r: ONWARDS! TO GLORY!

Reviews:

Sgt. M00re: Don't you worry your pretty little head. We'll get to the RWBY timeline soon enough. That's just a couple of arcs away, though. But I promise you we will get there eventually!

Iiznelomviing: In the words of Satan to Leo: "You asked for it!"

Percy

Dawn was fast approaching by the time Lance and I had our supplies ready to go. Each of us had a small handcrafted backpack courtesy of Jessie, filled with two days worth of spare food. Kronos rested on my wrist while Lance toted Riptide's case. If my dream had any weight, we might be able to not only get some better weapons, but repair Riptide as well. That way Lance could have a proper sword.

Both of us had dressed light that day, as we needed as much maneuverability as possible underwater. Even when I moved underwater in the past, my clothes still moved and weighed just as if they were actually wet underwater, even though they never got wet unless I wanted them to.

Around this time there were very few people moving out and about, mainly just the guards we had stationed for patrol inside the wall and the three guards on top of the gate at all times. The air was cool this morning, and the morning dew was still visible. None of the other de facto leaders were up up at this time. Gwen was usually the first to rise about an hour after dawn, which gave us a sizeable window to use.

The three guards at the gate only gave us passing nods as we headed out. I could feel the anxiety scratching along my veins. I was tense, not because we had to cut through heavily-infested monster lands, but because we were going to Dad's palace. As soon as I had that dream, the location of Dad's palace had just suddenly been something I knew. No matter what direction I was facing, I could always tell where it was. Funny thing, the palace wasn't in the same area as before. It had moved closer to us, but still, miles of swimming would have to be done.

I walked calmly through the growing woods, killing or avoiding anything mutant related. Lance got a bit of practice, but we would have to preserve our stamina for the walk.

-(00)-

The walk took us more than a couple hours, probably almost six or seven. The sun was already past noon, I knew that much, and was on its slow descent towards dusk. I stepped off some of my gear and ate at the ruined beach, setting a light campfire for comfort. Lance was standing in the waves, looking out at the ocean with a strange look. I couldn't tell if it was excitement, anger, or something else, entirely, but he looked ready, that was for sure.

"Lance," I said, breaking his concentration on the ocean. "Come on, get something to eat. We've still got a long ways to go." He nodded, and soon we were both finishing off our third canned meal. Once we had finished, I used the nearby saltwater to put out the fire. We were going to be swimming for miles, but it would only take about an hour if we used our manipulation of water. Now would also be the time for Lance to prove he was my brother, or at least half brother.

We both stepped into the water. I could feel my father's domain surging with power. Some of that power surged into me, and I could feel a similar drain, albeit much lesser compared to mine, coming from Lance. "Percy, I may need your help underwater. I've never really been able to practice water control, and I'd prefer not to fall behind at the start."

Well, at least I could sense he was absorbing the water's power, but it felt like how I had done so the very first time. On the plus side, I had another half brother, and on top of that having two sons of Poseidon meant we had two powerhouses to use against the monsters. Lance had a long way to come before he would be on my level, but if he grew strong enough I think he might be able to surpass even Medea as a spellcaster. Good gods, if that happened then the monsters would really be in trouble.

Seeing as how this mission was top priority, I would take over for most of the journey, hopefully until we got to Dad's palace. The water easily bent to my will, almost like it was completely willing. I wanted to make sure Lance had at least the basics of water manipulation to work with, so I tested to see if he could breathe underwater. Slowly, and with as much concentration as I could spare, I created a mask of water, and placed it on Lance's head. He wasn't surprised, so thankfully he wasn't thrashing about, else that would have been a whole host of problems right there. He hadn't moved for about five minutes, and when he did he gave me a thumbs up.

The water mask dropped and Lance stood there, looking none worse for wear. He was breathing normal, he looked calm, I think he was ready. "Are you ready to go?" I asked. All he gave me was a nod. It was enough. I closed my eyes in concentration and the water surged around us, gripping us both by the waist and pulling us towards Dad's palace. We shot through the water at speeds meant to kill a man in seconds, but we were both fine. I could feel Lance's power as we sped underwater. In comparison to mine, it was about half, which was way more than I expected, but that also meant with enough training he'd be strong enough to take on plenty of those mutants on his own.

For an eternity we sped through the darkness, the sun having set above water, but already we were getting further away the surface, slowly reaching levels that light couldn't. It was Dad's way of making sure no mortals could ever find him, but being beyond the point their technology could ever reach. Only sons of Poseidon could reach it, and even then we could just barely hold together. Being down here, in the darker depths, surrounded in an ocean without a master… I could feel raw power coursing along the currents, flowing like a hurricane around us. It lacked control, direction, and was as free as it could ever be.

I suddenly felt a choking sensation rise up my nostrils… The water pressure was too deep! I thrashed around in pain, trying to find a light in the darkness that trapped my vision. Lance was nowhere to be seen, probably since I was nearly blind. In this growing chasm of fear of drowning, I felt myself painfully change, muscles tearing apart and tissue reforming to build stronger ones.

It would generate a hearty and long debate about the whether pain of all your muscles destroying to rebuild in nanoseconds was more painful than dipping the soul in its acid of Styx, but I was in no position to try and remember either of them. My mind and nerves eventually failed to register any alarms… It had died out.

When I came about, Lance was looking over me in his mask, concerned. There was no light, but a faint glow covered him, illuminating the area around us. I felt a lot more… fluid. Almost faster, perhaps even tougher. I'd never gone this deep before! I knew water pressure was really high in the depths of the ocean, but this? What could possibly trigger this? I shook my head. "What happened? Are you okay?" He bubbled.

"M'fine. I'm… just as confused as you are. What happened?"

"You started thrashing around and holding your own neck! I was worried you were choking yourself, but I didn't know what to do!" He yelled.

"Let's… go. We can discuss this later. Lance huffed and swam lower with a weak pulse of power.

I don't know when, but I saw just fine.

After about an hour of travel (thank you Kronos) we were finally there. Dad's palace. It looked just as bad as my dream had shown me. Broken walls, skeletons everywhere, I was pretty sure that when the gods fell the merfolk here just upped and died here, too. It hurt to think about it, but not as much as I thought it would. If I knew anything about my dreams, it was that they were always true, which meant that there would be weapons waiting for us in the armory. As we neared, I looked over to Lance to see how he was doing. Even though we were underwater, I was sure he was crying. There was just no way he could have that sad a look and not shed tears. I didn't want him looking like this, but he would have to face reality at some point. There were no other demigods, no more mythology. It was just us. We were the last remnants of a time now dead.

The halls were silent, even as we passed through them with the ocean current. The last time I was here, Kronos had sent Oceanus after Dad and this place had been alive with activity. It wasn't until I came back now that I realized just how big this place was. The hallways towered over us, arching in coral finishes. The walls that had once been living murals were now dulled and gray, griming with the lack of control. Dad's palace was now a graveyard, one that no human would ever know about.

"Oh shit," I said. "Come take a look at this!"

"What?"

"It's a royal guard's staff."

"What's so special about it? I mean, it's just another weapon, right?"

I smirked. "Poseidon had the best smiths available." I picked up the slightly blue object, weighing it before running my hands over it. The weapon extended into a thin spear, of the finest quality and make. I pressed a small trigger on the side, and the blades separated into a trident. A small, almost invisible lever rested beside the grip, and a quick pull of it activated the blade at the end.

"It's… Awesome!"

"I want you to have it." I shifted it to its original form and tossed it to Lance.

"Really?" My brother had an almost happy expression, and let me tell ya, nothing is better than making your family happy.

Thirty minutes passed before we finally reached the armory. Plenty of times Lance and I had to double back, following our non-existent footsteps back into areas we knew and tried again. Once we did find the armory, Lance and I had to shove open a large metal door that resisted us the entire time. We had to use everything we had to shove that damned door just open enough for us to slip through. I was the first inside, because I knew that inside was a Cyclopes grave. As Lance began to worm his way through the doorway, I noticed that the door had been blocked by several skeletons of long dead Cyclopes. Everywhere I looked I saw them. Their large round forms easily taking over the entire floorspace, and their one empty socket seemed to peer into me more than any monster ever did.

I shook my head, forcing myself from these thoughts. We were on a mission, we could mourn the dead later. Lance had frozen stock still, his face frozen in complete and utter shock. I had been desensitized to this kind of horror through years of fighting monsters. Rick never told you guy about all the times I walked into a monster den with a mess everywhere, did he? Thought not, but that doesn't matter. Point is, I was used to this, but Lance... Damn, this kid was just getting all sorts of trauma. I had to physically shake him from his stupor, forcing myself not to flinch when he looked at me with dead eyes. I pointed at one of the intact weapons lockers off in the corner, and he understood.

Together we swam over to the locker. A padlock was all that stood between us and those sweet, sweet weapons, and best of all was that it was slightly rusted. I had Kronos in my hands as a war scythe, ready to cut the lock off, when Lance grabbed the padlock before I could slice it. I was about to ask him what he was thinking, when a magical sigil, a white circle with points like teeth on its outer edge, sharp lines cutting through the inner circle. It spun in his hand for a second before becoming a glow on his hand. The water around the lock boiled before the lock snapped and fell to pieces. I gave him an incredulous look seeing only his dead eyes set on the locker. Guess I'll have to get him to explain after we were back home. I had to give the door a hard yank to open it, but it gave way soon enough. Inside were semi-pristine weapons: swords, knives, spears, even a couple of guns. We immediately set to work, Lance holding the weapons together while I tied them up with Kronos in its kusarigama form. And holy fuck, was that a serious arsenal. Even if this was a really bad one, there was a truck load of weapons.

With the weapons secured, we began to make our way out of the room. I had to shift some of the Cyclopes' skeletons away from the door to make it large enough to move the bundle through, but we got out soon enough. Before we left, I led us to the throne room. It only felt right to say goodbye before we left, and to says thanks. Dad's throne had been bent and now stood lopsided and rusted. Lance stayed by the doorway while I swam up to the throne, tracing my fingers over the armrests.

"Hey, Dad…" I began. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say, everything I had been through going by so fast I was still recovering a little. Before everything went to Hell, I had been more focused on getting through New Rome University with high enough grades to get in pretty good places in the mortal world. Now, I was more focused on surviving and helping humanity grow. "We've uh… we've been good, so far. I found out I had a brother, though I don't really know him, so… Yeah. Oh! And we've recently started a settlement, got plenty of vegetables coming soon. What else… umm, we've been... Training? Yeah, training. Lance and I have been keeping ourselves in shape. Gotta fight the monsters one way or another right?" This was getting awkward now, and only because I was making it awkward. Time to cut loose.

Talking to your dead friends and family was a far-cry from reality, being a super awkward and strange thing to do. I mean, if you really felt like it, it might help, but I was not really in the mood. We had the weapons, so that meant we were done here. Lance seemed to brighten up a bit when we made our way back to the beach.

It wasn't as good as I'd thought it to be, but with the strange changes to my body, I couldn't argue. We discussed the strange shit that was happening, but eventually concluded that it was the disappearance of godly things that took away much of the world. We left the beach, with the surprisingly light load. I mean, I was carrying enough weaponry to supply an entire platoon!

"Let's check the stock." Lance suggested. I grunted and laid out all the gear.

We counted:

-18 Swords

-8 Spears

-3 Tridents

-5 Various harpoon guns

-7 Amphibious assault rifles, unloaded.

-2 Underwater rifles, unloaded.

-1800 rounds, or 6 cases of amphibious rifle ammo

-2 cases of flechettes

-8 large stock-less and grip-less SMGs, probably for Cyclopes

-12 amphibious pistols

-Some assorted gear

-2 crates, or 2000 rounds of pistol ammo

Holy fuck… I immediately set to work, throwing out the tridents and harpoon guns. Unless everyone decided they wanted to make their own Atlantis, we weren't going to need anything underwater-ish. Why not reforge them? Well, trying to heat up godly metal was next to the realm of impossible, unless you were a god yourself. Celestial metals were so fucking heat resistant, they might as well be completely heat-proof.

I then disposed of the underwater rifles and their flechettes, same principles involved. Me? Oh, I didn't need that. Most of the stuff was made of some godly element mined underwater, mixed with… Probably copper, lead, or steel. I was no expert on forging, but I did know the bare basics. We loaded up the guns and ammo into a little wooden crate Lance brought, and the swords were in Kronos' clutch. Lance carried a few spears on his back and the swords, along with the two crates of pistol ammo.

Meanwhile, I carried the rest. Honestly I thought it would have been heavier, but either Poseidon had this stuff to be lightweight - which seems a little far-fetched given that underwater things floated, but that's just me - or training went better than I expected. Either way, I didn't care, I just knew I could move those things without hinderance. Wow, there's a word I never thought I'd use. Hinderance. Really rolls off the tongue, doesn't it. Hin-der-ance. Hmm.

Anyway, the trip was anything but eventful. I'm not sure if you guys could detect the sarcasm there, but it actually was eventful. It seemed that every ten steps we'd come across another monster. Granted it was always a low number, from about one to three, but still… It's like they knew we were there.

The trip before took around six to seven hours, which would have put us in the settlement around midnight or so, but by the time we got back, dawn was fast approaching. Already I could see the outline of home being covered by the rising sun.

Still, it was good to be back. We had our weapons, I found out how strong I'd become, and Lance even got some practice in. It showed, too. Before he could cast a couple of spells before needing to take a break, but now he was just scraping the teens, having done eleven magical bolts before he stopped.

As we got closer to home, I began to notice a few odd details. For starters, I smelt smoke. It was a generally agreed upon rule that we never try to start a fire until we could install a better wall and defenses. Another odd thing I noticed was that there was a line of smoke rising from the settlement. Again, I thought they had done some celebrating, though of what I wasn't sure.

It wasn't until we were nearly at the gate that I noticed that smoke wasn't from celebration.

It was from an attack.

The wall was nearly right before us before I noticed just how badly damaged it was. Large, gaping holes dotted the metal sheets we had in place. There were no sentries placed on the ramparts. I could hear people groaning from within. "No. No no no no no no No NO!" I began to scream, my speed rising with the sound of my voice as I broke the distance between myself and my home.

The metal gate we had in place was ajar, which left it swinging open with the wind. Inside was a battle scar. Dead bodies were everywhere, even with a patrol going about to collect the dead. That's how I was noticed first. "Hey. Hey! Percy's back!" the youngest of the undertakers shouted.

Others began to shout the same thing, and before long I was surrounded with so many people, most thankful that I had come back, but a few were… pissed doesn't even begin to describe how they felt.

"Where. The. Hell. Were you." Gwen growled. I could tell she wanted to slap me, and probably would if I said anything. Thankfully, though, my saving grace actually came from Lance. "Gwen, we found a stockpile of weapons. Look!" he explained, holding up the weapons for all to see. Everyone stared dumbstruck at the amount of melee weapons we had come back with, along with the crates of ammo and the assorted gear. Most of the pissed-off people came to my side, but there were still a few that held their ground, namely Gwen. "You couldn't have told us what you were planning?!" she cried. Gods above, she was pissed.

"Did you know, that while you were gone we were attacked by a group way stronger than the cultists? Yeah, they came in with weapons only the government could have access to. We fought, but they overwhelmed us in an instant. Our numbers are down to just over forty now."

I couldn't say anything, and Lance was already looking downtrodden. A few people tried to cheer him up, thanking him for the weapons, but he was in his own world at the moment. If I didn't have the experience of losing my entire fucking species then I probably would have joined Lance in abject despair, but I wasn't going to, because unlike Lance, I've gotten used to being one of the last demigods. No, I wasn't feeling sadness, not entirely anyway.

I was pissed. I was pissed more than when I found out Annabeth had been kidnapped. I was pissed off more than when Tantalus and Mr. D harassed the camp. I was even more pissed off than when I found out Gabe Ugliano - may he rot in Hades - had hit my mother. Yeah, I wanted blood, and I was going to have it.

I set down everything I was carrying, grabbed the case with Riptide, grabbed a nearby semi-auto rifle, and looked Gwen right in the eye when I asked her, in a very calm voice, "Where did they go?"

I guess no one was used to me being so serious. Gwen actually took a step back in surprise. "What?" she asked. I'm guessing she didn't expect me to react so soon, but to hell with that. We were attacked. The people I cared about, the ones I called family were killed. I was going to pay them back, twice-fold in blood.

Lance was right next to me, a blank, cold look in his eyes as he managed to scrounge up an assault rifle and two pistols. I knew he was a pretty bad aim when it came to guns in general. Everytime he practiced, he shook like a leaf and jumped whenever a shot went off. You could imagine it became a widely mutual idea to keep him away from any sort of gun, even the BB guns. Especially the BB guns. Now, he looked like he was ready to go in a heartbeat.

"I said, which way did they go?" Gwen blinked a couple of times, apparently still caught off guard but damn it, I needed to know which way they went.

"Percy, you can't be serious! The last time you left, only fifty of us made it out alive! If you leave again, we'll be slaughtered." This time the 'voice of reason' was from John. Poor bastard looked like a ghost, but honestly I was glad to see he was alive. I looked around, seeing everyone looking at me, pleading me to stay. There were so many less people now. People I recognized that had been with us since the beginning, as well as those that came from hearing the rumors, each looked disheveled and in shock. I really wanted to go out and kill these bastards that attacked. I mean really stick it to them… but I couldn't leave them. Not again.

"Fine," I said. I lowered my rifle, as did Lance, and we went to join the others in burying the dead. We had a graveyard, just outside the settlement, with handmade crosses for gravemarkers, but never before did I see it get so huge. We made it a practice to have stones with the deceased's name carve into it. There were so many I recognized. Stan, Sebastian, Mike. Gods, I saw a grave for Marcus. Lance noticed it, too, and decided to leave a sword on top of the grave. It wasn't much more than a simple gesture, but for a demigod it was the ultimate sign of respect. Rick probably never told you guys this either, but we did have a grave site for the fallen demigods, complete with named grave markers and everything. Whenever a demigod fell, if someone placed a weapon on top of the grave it meant they had the upmost respect for that demigod and their skills. Sort of a warrior's way of acknowledging how great they actually were. I could understand Lance's actions. Marcus had trained Lance along with Bran when I wasn't able to.

Still, he was handling their deaths a lot better than I was. Seeing so many graves, with so many familiar names… it hit me hard. Gods above, it was like the entire weight of the fucking ocean had just been dropped on me. I could feel my stomach trying to jump out my mouth, but I swallowed it down. I was about to head back when my eye caught a particular grave. It was adorned in flowers, and I could tell many people were around this one seeing as how so many footprints led to this grave in particular.

I knelt down to move the flowers, so I could see who was there.

Jessie.

My blood ran cold right then and there. My eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing, and my brain was scrambling to figure out how this was possible. Jessie. Are. You. Fucking. Serious?! Jessie. Out of everyone to die… Gods, what the actual fuck!

"She was one of the first to go," I heard Bran say behind me as he walked over. I couldn't take my eyes off the grave, unable to comprehend that fact. It was like this was some fucking back dream. A nightmare or some shit like that. I felt a hand rest itself on my right shoulder. "She went out to see what they wanted, or if they needed something… and they just… cut her down. I'm sorry Percy. She was like a grandmother to us all." Yeah, no shit. Jessie was the town grandmother. You had a problem that you needed some advice on? Jessie was there to help. Needed to vent off some steam without any judgement? Jessie listened. Gods, the lengths that woman went to to try and help as many as she could. She was the voice of reason for us all. The fact that she was dead…

"I'll make them pay," I growled out. My hands curled into fists so tightly I was sure I was going to draw blood. My entire body was shaking with rage. The only reason I didn't go looking for those asshats that attacked us was because there were still so many people that needed help here. That, and because Jessie would have wanted me to stay. The hand left my shoulder. "Percy… when you find them… find one named Gregory. He was the one that killed Jessie. Make sure he bleeds."

I heard Bran's footsteps as he left, the cold morning grass crunching under his feet. The dawn's air cold against me skin. Gregory… Now I had a name, which meant I had a target. Now I just needed to know who these assholes were so I could track them down.

After we finished burying the dead, Lance and I took up alternating shifts to patrol the walls. Between myself, Lance, Adam, of all people, and Bran, we had a sentry on the wall round the clock, even into the night. So many homes were now vacant. It hurt to think about them. One night, as Adam and I had pulled a dual shift, we began to chat. "So, think we'll find the bastards that did this?" he asked me as we both gazed out into the night, practically daring anything to come charging. With the holes in the wall, monster attacks became more frequent, but we didn't have to worry as much as I thought we did. Lance had those covered. He didn't use magic, but boy did his hands do some work.

I shrugged. "If they attack again, they'll be sorry this time around." I could tell Adam had looked over at me. "Sorry for sounding like a skeptic, but what exactly is it that you can do that over four hundred people couldn't?" I said nothing, simply showing him Kronos. Adam hadn't been with us long enough to see it in action, as he was always one of the night watchers. He eyed its bracelet before asking, "How's a bracelet going to stop them? They had shit I was sure only military bases had." To answer his question, I grabbed hold of Kronos and willed it to become its original form.

The scythe elongated in my hand, the metal sliding over my skin as it grew in size. Thirty seconds later I had a full-fledged weapon of the Titans in my hand. Needless to say, Adam was stunned. "What the- How'd you manage to do that?" Again I shrugged, "It's been able to do this for as long as I've had it. It never dulls, and anyone that isn't me or Lance that tries to grab this blade bursts into flames."

Adam looked at me as if I fell from the sky, which did happen to me once. "You're shitting me." "He's being completely serious," Lance said as he joined us on the wall. "He actually figured this out when a cultist had tried to grab it, and POOF! He was a pile of ashes." Lance even had his hands pretend to burst open as he said 'poof.' Adam seemed at a loss for words. "I gotta tell ya, that was something I wasn't expecting. Then again, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, you know, with the End of Days, and all. But hey, at least this means there is a God, right?"

Lance and I looked at each other before we turned back to Adam. "Uh, I guess?" was my reply. Honestly, like Chiron told me when I first got to camp, we didn't deal with the metaphysical. Trying to figure that out made my brain hurt, anyways, so I stuck with what I knew, and that was killing monsters.

Lance shrugged. "Honestly I never thought about it, I've just been going about things on a day to day basis." He crossed his arms and leaned against the railing. "If there is a God, then I hope He's watching us with a smile on his face. I think we could use some good graces right about now."

Adam reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace. I had to really look at it to see that at the end it had a Star of David on it. The six-pointed star of Judaism. That was another thing we demigods learned about: other religions. Mainly we studied their monsters in case we ever came across them, but I was glad to just be dealing with Greek monsters. That little adventure with those Egyptian magicians really weirded me out.

He mumbled a quick prayer, gave the amulet a light kiss, then placed it back into his shirt. Lance shrugged and went back to his rounds. Every night he tried to volunteer for night watch along the wall while the few engineers we had worked tirelessly to repair the wall. It was a slow going process that would take months, perhaps even years, to complete, but we wouldn't stop, not until everyone was safe.

A/N:

Mr.P3pp3r: Hoo doggeh that was a good one! Now we're picking up and moving along.

Lance: I still can't believe you're taking longer and longer to work on this. Goodsir's did a helluva lot more work that you did in the last chapter.

Mr.P3pp3r: And I keep telling you that damned tuna kept stealing my charging cable down in Texas, so zip it!

Goodsir: I'm not Jewish, so please, correct us if we got anything wrong. This isn't meant to offend any race, culture, or religion in any way. Anyways, P3pp3r did a lot of work. I have no doubt this story would be dying without him!