I'm sorry! Don't kill me! (Cowering in anti-angry reader bunker in the basement) I know I have not updated in a little while, but updates will be sporadic from here on out into the foreseeable future. As slow as it was, it is still a darn sight better than most FF authors. ALl right. Now, down to business. Yes, I did take that line from Kronos at the end of the last chapter. I thought it would kind of bring everything full circle. Also, did anyone notice that I based the speech from last chapter on a conversation Dionysus had with Percy? Also, I NEED a beta. Khaos Risen, I am sorry for forgetting to follow up on this. I need you to create a beta profile to send an official request. The other person who has agreed to help, (You know who you are and I am trying to avoid calling you out), as much as you have always been there and been willing to help from the beginning, I need you to start on your story soon, otherwise, I will be forced to look elsewhere temporarily until you are ready. Sorry if the fight scene is not up to par, I have no experience writing them. Song I am listening to right now, Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman.

Meanwhile, at an unknown location deep inside Tartarus...

There was a brilliant flash of light and a distinct smell of ozone. A jumble of bodies poured out of what seemed to be empty space within a few seconds, resulting in a groaning heap of demigods. Clarisse was the first one to recover and get back up. "Ow. Did anyone get the number of that truck that hit me?"

Clovis (rather surprisingly) was the one who elected to answer. "I think" He said, yawning. "That Zeus has banished us to Tartarus. As Tartarus is monster home turf, we can probably be expected to be attacked any mom-" He was cut off by the snarling of a few dozen hellhounds who bounded over the nearest ridge.

Clarisse groaned. "Really Clovis? You had to jinx us?" Shaking her head, she refocused her thoughts. "Right. Okay then, which of you punks actually have weapons with you?" Tentative hands flew up. "And actually can use them to some effect?" She added as an afterthought. A few hands fell, but there were a few demigods who had some level of skill. "Right then. I need a Hermes kid to go sneak to the side and scout them out. Everybody else, anyone who has a close range weapon, which includes spears, move forward. Apollo kids and anyone else with bows or javelins got to the back and set up." She waited as the demigods shuffled into position slowly. "Sometime today, and five minutes ago if you can help it! We are about to be attacked!" She barked, and there was a noticeable increase in speed all around. "Good luck to you all. If we don't survive, it was nice knowing you." She turned and faced the onrushing enemy, her electric spear gleaming in her hand as she bounced on the balls of her feet. This was her element. What she was made for. It was also how she wanted to die. Going down fighting for a cause she believed in, fighting impossible odds after having stood up for what was right. Leading brave soldiers who shared her beliefs and made her proud. That was how she wanted to go, and Hades if it didn't look like she would get her wish.

The wave crashed against the hasty shield wall that had been erected under her direction. Spears and swords started to flicker through and over the gaps between demigods, and the monsters began to die. Yet it clearly was hopeless. As well as the demigods were holding out, they were being pushed back. Already, a few of the better fighters had been incapacitated and replaced in the front line. The casualties would only increase as weariness set in and the enemy numbers increased. She engaged what seemed to be the leader. It was huge, the size of a saint bernard, and looked vicious. She thrust her spear forward and impaled the hound, whose beady red eyes flickered but kept charging, even with a spear in him, throwing himself further against the point to get to her. Clarisse stumbled back in disbelief, barely managing to keep her footing. She had never seen a beast take a wound this grievous and continue. That was when it came. Like a miracle sent from the sky, a huge, black shafted arrow arced out of nowhere and slammed into the side of the monster with a meaty smack. It was quickly joined by a half dozen others, all of them within a handsbreath of each other. Finally, the relentless pursuit faltered and the hellhound sank to his knees. Clarisse stepped back for a second and surveyed the area for the archer. She knew it wasn't an apollo kid, it was the wrong colour. Then she saw him. A man outlined against the horizon, about two hundred yards away. The only reason she saw him was the flicker of his black cloak as he unleashed another volley, all of them striking monsters who were attacking vulnerable demigods. The relief at seeing they had help quickly faded as she was blindsided and sent sprawling onto the ground. Her spear clattered away as she looked, resigned, up into the jaws of death.

She had experienced a nice run. Fought her fair share of monsters, completed quests. And now she was going to die in the bottomless pit of Tartarus, killed by a hellhound. But Hades if she was going down easily. She thrust her hands forward in desperation, gripping the side of the hellhound mouth and attempting to hold it off. It was a struggle, as she was in a poor position to grapple with it, and for a few seconds the only sound was growling from the throat of the beast and the laboured breath from the leader of the Ares cabin. Then it bit down on her left hand and she winced. That was all the opening required, as the sharp teeth lunged forward towards her now vulnerable throat. There was a flicker of movement, and the hellhound slumped forward lifeless as the life faded from its eyes. She watched, awestruck, as the black cloaked man leaped to his feet. He had slid under the beast and raked a knife across its belly, killing it instantly. Who had he even gotten here so fast? He was so far away, he must have had incredible speed. He wheeled and threw the knife in his left hand, sending it through the side of a dracena who was standing over chris. He slid the other back into some kind of sheath and unslung his bow. He got two arrows off before more monsters surged towards him, all of them correctly identifying this man as the biggest threat. He pulled out his next arrow, and lunged, using it as an offensive weapon, killing another hellhound. He launched the arrow into the upper arm of a laistrygonian giant. He spun and used the limbs of the bow to block, before slashing with the lower end of the bow, which had a blade on the end. He hurled the bow into the face of a cyclops as a distraction before spinning in a circle. Steel flashed in the dim light and the body dissolved, now headless. She hadn't even seen him draw his knives. She heard growling and looked over her shoulder. A hell hound, looking for an easier target and recognizing she was weaponless, threw itself at her. She turned desperately. "Throw me a knife."

She saw him turn his head quickly. "Are you crazy? Why would I give you a weapon?" He threw one knife, launched a haymaker with his right hand, then spun and, without looking in her direction, launched the other knife on a no look curving trajectory. It whistled so close to her head it cut off a lock of her hair in its passing. It embedded between the eyes of the oncoming monster. A perfect shot. As it dissolved into dust, she stared, awestruck, at him.

"How?" She stopped talking, speechless. As good as Percy was, whoever this man was, he was on a completely different level. She had never seen someone with his reflexes.

He turned. "How? That is a ques-" He was cut off as he threw himself to the ground and landed in push up position, before pushing off with his hands and slamming his ascending booted feet into the belly of the hellhound that snuck up on him. The hellhound gave a wail and dissipated. He got up and brushed himself off. "As I was saying, what is time but motion? What is motion but heat? And are not heat and energy but different names for the same thing? When you understand the implications of that, you'll understand how and what I did. All the monsters within a several mile radius will be coming at you. Beware the hellhound riders. I will lead them off. You must go north, where you will find more help." He whistled and a sledge pulled up, pulled by dou of good sized foxes.

She stared, confused. "Foxes can't out run hell hounds?"

He chuckled." These are Teumessian foxes. I would like to see them try." Then he jumped on and prepared to leave, she interjected.

"Wait! Who are you?"

He gave her a wry look from under the edge of his cowl. "If you must cal me by my code name. Call me Zero." He then gave a sharp verbal command. As the foxes dashed away at a incredible speed, dust rose from his passing. A few second later, it settled and the man was gone. It was as if he had never existed.