BIG X BIG X BIG X BIG X BIG X

Chapter X
Well, Shit. Now I Have to Deal With This Fucker, and Now She Needs to Die Too!

Percy had decided to wait. It had taken almost an hour after the last of the monsters had been destroyed for someone to find the bodies of the camp leaders. That night had been spent in mourning. No fire was lit. No songs sung. The campers discussed taking shifts to protect the borders, but in the end they decided against it, in fear of more of their ranks being taken by harpies.

As Percy had hoped, it was quickly deducted that Chiron and Dionysus had been killed by the house being crushed on top of them while they were sleeping in the early morning. There had been other casualties as well. Shane, from the Hephaestus cabin, Miranda Gardner, the sister of Katie Gardner from Demeter, the last remaining occupant from the Dionysus cabin, Pollux, and Annabeth, had all died in the battle. People moved sluggishly about the camp, always looking over their shoulder, flinching at particularly loud noises or seemingly random rustles of trees. Finally people couldn't stand not being protected, and had asked the Gods for help.

The 'help' arrived in a bright flash of light in the middle of braziers flashed and flared dangerously, roaring high and hot, illuminating the faces of the campers long after the brief light had vanished. In the place of the light stood a crouched figure, blinking his eyes rapidly.

"Damn Apollo. He always flashes me places without warning me." He man apologized. "Hello, campers. I'm Terminus. Protector of boundaries. Zeus sanctioned me here." He said, turning in circles to address the whole camp while giving an inviting smile.

Jason walked forward, standing tall. "You're the one they model all the busts of, right? Like the one in Camp Jupiter?" Jason was roughly an inch taller than Terminus, the height difference apparent.

"Yes. Though that isn't the only place." Terminus said, backing up slightly to accommodate for the difference. He frowned slightly.

"How come we don't have a bust instead?" Jason raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. Leo came up to stand on his left side. Terminus' frown depended.

"It takes time to craft them, with the proper enchantments and spells and protection charms. Hephaestus is making one now, but until then I'm here." Jason narrowed his eyes.

"What do you need to do to...protect, and everything?"

"I just need to be around. Patrol the camp borders. Refresh them. I'll usually have to stay somewhere around there until they settle themselves."

"Good. You do your thing. You don't need to be troubled with the rest of it. I've got it covered." Jason planted his feet. Terminus raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just here to help you."

"Besides protecting the camp, we don't need it. Saves you the trouble of worrying about us. You can put more effort towards protecting the camp to the best of your abilities."

"And you're going to run the camp by yourself?"

"No. I have Leo, and Percy, and Nico when he's available. But I've run a camp with just one other, so I think we can manage." Jason stood tall, raising his chin.

Percy raised an eyebrow himself. He had not been consulted in this. Not that he was particularly complaining. That would make movement throughout the camp easier, if he had more authority. Though, that could also add more responsibilities to his plate, possibly causing detrimental effects on his end goal, but he would work around it. He always did.

He figured he should stand as well. He took his place on Jason's other side. Terminus backed up again, eyes narrowing on Percy.

"Percy Jackson? The one who killed Ares and cursed Athena, yes?"

"I was possessed." Percy growled, taking a step forward. Jason placed a hand on his chest to hold him back. "You think I wanted to kill them? You think I wanted to hurt them?"

"Calm. Your. Shit." Jason said lowly. Percy huffed.

"Yes, I was informed of your possession." Terminus said. "I understand my directions. Good luck with running the camp. Where is the archway?" Terminus addressed Jason at this, ignoring a growling Percy completely.

"That way."

Terminus left with a small wave. With a look to each other, Leo and Percy grabbed Jason by the arms and hauled him away. Percy knocked them off him after a minute, rolling his eyes as he followed them away from the rest of the camp.

"What was that about, Jase?" Leo asked immediately. Jason sighed.

"I don't want the Gods bothering us. He's obviously here to watch us, and report back. I think he has some suspicions about Percy."

"No shit Sherlock. But you going all Terminator on him won't give us any five star reviews, you know." Leo said, making a wild gesture. Percy remained silent. "And how are you going to run Camp Half-Blood by yourself?"

"I already said. I'm not doing this by myself. I'll have you, and Nico, and Percy-I assume." Jason suddenly looked sheepish. Percy waved him off.

"I've been in this camp since I was twelve. I'd risk my life for it in a heartbeat." He said quickly. Heuheuheuheuheuheuheu. Jason nodded.

"And I'm sure the other campers will help out to get it up and running properly again. We can do this. Sure, we need something to protect the borders, but once we have the bust, that won't be a problem, and the Gods can keep their noses out of our faces; as much as they can, at least." Jason grumbled in an afterthought.

Leo shook his head, a small smile playing his lips. "You're crazy, man. But I got you. I'm going to finish my meal. Terminiouses or whatever did interrupt my delicious burger, after all." Leo said in farewell, before taking off. Jason snorted.

"Crazy Latino's." He murmured under his breath, making Percy laugh. "Do you actually think we'll be able to take care of the camp with Chiron gone, Percy?" Jason asked quietly, glancing sideways at Percy.

Who, of course, being Percy, adopted a flirty expression. "I think you'll do great, Jason." He said, smiling and batting his eyelashes. "I'm going to go eat before mealtime is over. You should too." Percy called over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving Jason blinking at him with confusion in his eyes. Once he was facing away from the blond, a smile came across Percy's face. Jason would soon be next to him throughout his activities, assisting him with his assassinations and eliminations, soon enough. And he would be right there, beside Percy, where he could best be protected.

Percy sat at his table once again. Now that things had settled down a bit (he didn't think Terminus would be bothering him soon) Percy could start actually planning for his adventure to Hephaestus' palace.

Of course, Terminus was still extremely annoying. He honestly thought Percy wasn't possessed! How dare he! Percy was an amazing actor, and felt affronted at the very thought of someone not believing his lies. He worked hard to make sure he stayed completely protected, to make sure no one was aware of what was happening. The nerve of some people!

Oh, but Jason had been hilarious. He actually believed that Percy would still risk his life for this camp. Sure, once, he would have. But now, what did this camp matter? Percy could move on from it. He had nothing to learn from it. He couldn't grow anymore. Couldn't get better. This camp was worthless to him. He supposed he could keep it to train those he recruited, but who did he really need? There were those that were useful, but he didn't really need anyone else to help him. He didn't need to recruit people. He supposed there still would need to be a camp to train the remaining Demi-Gods once he got rid of all the useless Gods. But did he really need them? Why couldn't he just watch them as they slowly got killed off, letting the monsters overrule? Hm. Wasn't that a fun thought.

Percy sighed, feeling as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Really. Overtaking the world took a lot of angst-y thought that he didn't appreciate. It was so tedious. Too much turmoil. He'd rather just kill them all in one fell swoop, but that would be took quick. Yes, this was time-consuming. Yes, it was a challenge, but who didn't love a good challenge? Stimulate the brain and all that. Besides, this was so much more fun!

Smiling into his blue coke (a thing he still had a deep affection for) to hide his grin, Percy giggled to himself. Time. That was all he needed. Time.

And then it would all be his.

"Wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey, wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey, wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey…" Percy chanted to himself, making ripples in the smooth surface of his drink, smile stretching his face.

Percy grumbled silently to himself as he walked quietly throughout the camp. The veil of night had long since covered them in her chilling cloak, and nothing but the sound of birds in the distance and his light footsteps disturbed the silence. It was a nice quiet, very calming and peaceful, which was a rare thing within the walls of Camp Half-Blood. Not that he could properly enjoy it, anyway. There were too many voices in his head to let him bask in complete silence.

Jason had kept him busy the past week, calling him for discussions on certain problems, asking for his advice on how to fix certain things, asking for references on how things used to look, opinions, suggestions, all the like. Yes, Percy enjoyed his company and took the time to make Jason flustered whenever he could, but this was boring! Time was being taken out of his careful days to fix the camp he was planning to destroy. He was moving backwards and it annoyed him. He had been hoping to go out during the daytime, but over the past few days he realized that wasn't likely to happen soon, so he set his goals to nighttime.

It wasn't as if he needed his beauty sleep, but it was appreciated nonetheless when he got it. Otherwise he was just irritable and had a tough time thinking out problems.

And now be had Bust-Boy to deal with, ugh. Yes, he stayed out of their way, but Percy could constantly feel suspicious eyes on him. Watching him, analyzing him, just waiting for him to make a mistake. A small infraction, that was all that was needed. Not that Percy planned to let Bust-Boy get that, anyways. He wasn't stupid. Some days he did want to take a hammer and smash his head, pretending it was marble as blood splattered over his face and clothes, but alas, he couldn't do that just yet.

He edged himself along the border walls as he walked, making his way to the entrance archway. This is where it would begin to be a bit tricky, as this is where Bust-Boy favored to linger. Percy did his best to cover himself with shadows, but he wasn't sure how well he did. Soon, he could see him, leaning against one of the pillars of the arch, chin resting on his chest as he breathed.

Percy blew some hair out of his eyes. Hopefully, he was in a deep enough sleep for Percy to easily get out and back in when he came back. Mentally sending out a small vibration, Percy closed his eyes and waited for a response. When he was sure that Terminus was unconscious to the point of not being woken up by his small trespass to the barrier, he moved.

He felt the magic of the arch clinging to his skin. It was different from the light, friendly magic that would carass his face as he passed, the magic that was Thalia's tree. This magic was hostile; it didn't like him. He felt it humming angrily as it begrudgingly let him past, and practically felt it spitting him out once he crossed the border. He huffed, flipped off the invisible magic, and set off. So much trouble for this one little meeting he was hoping to achieve.

Of course, if things went as he hoped, this would continue to move the ball in his favor, drastically manipulating the game with him ahead of the carnage that would be left in the wake. He just had to find a monster and not kill it.

He wandered the woods for awhile, surprised at how long it took for something to come at him. He was a child of one of the Big Three, already enhancing his scent, making it more enticing, but since he was now partially a minor god, didn't that make him smell even more appetizing to monsters? Hmm. Maybe he should get a monster cook book to figure out how high his rating was now.

He could sense dawn on the horizon when something finally rustled the bushes to his right. He moved quickly away from the disturbance, neatly stepping aside as a little right rabbit came zipping past. Huffing, Percy turned on his heel and started to head back to camp. All that for nothing?

And then he heard it. The near-silent hiss of movement. He snapped his head around, just in time to dodge out of the way of an attack. It was nothing but a meek emposi, but anything catching him off-guard could be very bad. She circled him, spitting and hissing. Then she lunged for him again. Percy summoned Nightshade, who flung herself out of him and onto the snake-lady, immobilizing her. Smiling, Percy brushed himself off, facing the terrified emposi.

"Well hello there. Now, I just want to say a few things, then you can leave with your pitiful life.

"My name is Percy Jackson." Percy suspected that her eyes would have widened if she could move at all. "As you may have heard, I am on a mission to kill the majority of the Gods, including Zeus, and am planning to take over the mortal world once that happens. But, for this to work, I do need help from you monsters as a group alike. Of course, you shall get power in return. But this does take a lot of planning, and as sometimes I confuse myself, I'll keep it simple for you.

"I want you to spread a rumor that Oceanus is possessing me. Yes, the titan. I want you to tell everyone you know that Oceans is possessing Percy Jackson. Every monster you come across. I want this message to be known. I want it to seem like you lot are teaming up with him and the information got leaked. I want the Gods to know about it. But they mustn't know that I am making you say this. It must seem as though it was an involuntary. Now, I'm going to release you. Attack me, you die. Do nothing, you live." Percy whistled harshly, and Nightshade returned to him.

The emposi collapsed to the ground, breathing harshly. "Do you understand your orders?"

"Yessssssssssssssssssssss." She hissed, wheezing slightly. Percy smiled in satisfaction.

"Good, you are dismissed." Percy made a vague shooing motion, and after spitting at him shortly, she slithered off. Percy snorted and made his way back into camp. He'd wait a bit before his next outing, give the mill some time to turn, let the grapevine grow a little. In the meantime, there were a few things we wanted to inspect in hopes of finding something useful.

He had been simply eating when it happened. When the bright sunshine took on a suspiciously green hue, and the pavilion grew silent in sync. He turned around, and there Rachel sat in her chair, mouth gaping open, green fog spewing from it, eyes glassy and unseeing.

"In the shadows he awaits, causing destruction in the skies,
Wearing a veil, a mask of lies,
Olympus, at his hands, its fate looks grim,
At his feet, someone with the power to stop him,
Unaware by both madman and savior,
One man will stop his misbehavior."