Camp Half-Blood had grown exponentially since the last time Luke, err, Kronos had been there, including the newly christened city of New Athens that branched off into the forest and the brand new prison, where he was being taken by his infernal grandson and his girlfriend.

The Celestial bronze shackles chaffed the skin around his wrists into a raw, red mess, making him curse at the fragility of having a human host. No, Luke was no longer alive, but as this was Kronos' last vessel, it was the only way Pontus was able to fully bring him back without compromising his strength.

The boy, Jason, walked behind Kronos, a Roman pilum gripped tightly in his hand as he pointed it at his back, prodding Kronos along whenever he stopped to look around for a moment. "No time for sightseeing," Jason would hiss, poking the end of his electric spear into Kronos' back, shocking Kronos in the same way one would be shocked due to static electricity.

Once Jason and his girlfriend had finally gotten Kronos in a prison cell, they quickly pressed the button that raised the barrier which prevented Kronos from so much as sticking his hand through the Celestial bronze and Imperial gold bars. Not that he needed to escape at the moment, but it definitely dampened his spirits as he'd no longer have the chance to grab a demigod by the throat and make them cower in fear.

"So," the girl said, pulling a stool from a nearby chair and stopping it in front of Kronos' cell. "You swore on the Styx you'd tell us the truth. Talk!"

Kronos merely shook his head, trying to fight back his infamous smirk that usually pissed off whoever he was talking to even more. "You are mistaken, little girl. I swore on the Styx that everything I'd said was true, not that I'd talk. You better improve your listening skills, because it'd be such a shame if you interpreted something incorrectly in battle."

"What do you care?" Jason said protectively, standing up from his own chair and pressing himself as close to the barrier as possible without hurting himself, a fierce scowl tugging at his lips.

"Yeah, there's a reason you're called the Crooked One," the girl insisted, gently pulling Jason back into his seat while holding his hand to keep him in place. "You're a smooth talker, and if you don't start telling us what we want to know ASAP, I'll bring in Clarisse so that you'll be more 'cooperative.'" The girl said the word cooperative in air quotes, essentially meaning that Clarisse would pummel him to a pulp until he spoke.

"My lips are sealed, demigods," Kronos spoke coolly, flashing him his smirk just to get a kick out of their frustration. "I already told Jason what he needs to know, so make use of that instead of torturing information out of me."

"We're going to get him back," Jason huffed angrily, though his skin had blanched significantly after remembering the few words Kronos had told him back in the Big House. "I promise you we're going to defeat you and the master you serve, and we'll get our friend back."

"Friend?" Kronos laughed, shaking his head at their naivety. "As in singular? Wow, I didn't think you had the guts to leave someone behind."

"What do you mean?" the girl said, gripping the pommel of the dagger sheathed at her waist like a lifeline.

"Don't be daft! You know of whom I speak, both of them. When the time is right, the Olympians' favorite pawns will be turned against them, and I will march alongside them, watching as Olympus falls into ruin!"

"We'll get Percy back," the girl said, her voice full of conviction. "And if anyone else was kidnapped, we'll get them back, too."

Jason, on the other hand, was silent, thinking quietly to himself, clearly racking his brain as to who else had recently gone missing. When the realization hit, he stumbled back, knocking over both chairs and falling to the floor as a result.

"Piper," he said urgently, his electric blue eyes shining with unbridled fear. "Nico was kidnapped during the attack, remember? He's the only other person who's gone missing!"

The girl, Piper, screwed her eyes shut and tightened her hands into fists from the sheer amount of anger she was feeling. Kronos smirked the entire time, wishing he'd had popcorn to enjoy while he watched some of the Heroes of Olympus fall apart in front of his very eyes. Pontus had been right to send him instead of, say, Perses or Erebus, who would much rather shove a sword into someone's abdomen rather than speak. No, Kronos enjoyed using his silver tongue to manipulate those around him, especially when he was conversing with young demigods who were still emotionally distraught over the loss of their friends.

"You better pray to your master that Nico is unhurt, or I swear you'll suffer for the rest of your sad, pathetic life," Jason seethed, electricity beginning to spark around his fingertips. He then turned to Piper and said, "We need to tell Chiron immediately. Who knows if Nico's under the same spell as Percy?"

"He does," Piper said, gesturing to Kronos, who just shook his head and turned his back to them, clearly not going to tell them anything else. "But, we better just assume that Nico's turned and prepare for that as well. I mean, we only have six days left until the deadline is up."

The duo realized that they were still conversing in front of the Titan King and gave Kronos one final glare before making their way up the steep stairs that led down into the prison, their voices fading until Kronos heard the door close and the locks slide into place.

Kronos sat down on the edge of the little bed provided and sighed as he heard the lock within the shackles open, releasing him from the magical handcuffs. And thankfully for him, he was the only one inhabiting the prison at the moment, giving him complete privacy. He even checked if there were cameras and smiled to himself when he realized that the demigods hadn't thought of the detail, therefore allowing for anything to go on within the cells without anyone needing to know.

Kronos reached into his pocket and pulled out the coin Pontus had given him before he'd led the march on Camp Half-Blood two days ago. It was no bigger than a dime and couldn't ever be mistaken for a mortal coin as it was completely turquoise with Pontus' face engraved on one side and the insignia of the royal family printed onto the other.

After checking again that there were absolutely no cameras and no means of spying in on him, Kronos threw the coin to the ground, watching the little thing shatter and in its place, something akin to an Iris message appeared, showing Pontus and Perseus locked into a heated discussion.

"Pardon me, my lord," Kronos said respectfully, not wanting to incur the primordial's fury even if they were about three-thousand miles apart. "I have news."

"Well, out with it, then," Pontus demanded, glancing back at forth between the Titan and his son, who was also looking expectantly at Kronos.

"Our plan is working. They believe the son of Hades is under our command, and they truly believe that we will wait until the deadline before we attack," Kronos informed. "And I've managed to unnerve Jason and Piper, both of whom are viewed as leaders at the camps. If we keep on this path, we may be able to continue weakening from the inside out."

Pontus smiled evilly, something that made Kronos' skin crawl as he could count the amount of times that primordial smiled on one hand. His eyes would darken, as if someone was entering the darkest depths of the ocean, and he'd give off a faint glow, just a taste of the full manifestation of the unimaginable power that a primordial could wield with a snap of their fingers.

"Perfect," Pontus crooned. "We shall march on that blasted Camp Jupiter in two days, as it is the stronger of the two camps, and then we'll take down Camp Half-Blood. Once the camps are down, Olympus is ours for the taking."

"As you command, my lord."

"Don't fret, my general, we shall break you out of prison soon. You shall be there by my side when we reclaim what was taken for us."

Kronos smiled himself at the thought of finally reaping his revenge against his traitorous children. "With pleasure, my lord. We shall see each other soon."

Back at Pontus' fortress, Annabeth was running for the arena, needing to take out her frustration on people rather than the dumb automatons Percy would activate for her. Okay, she took it back, those automatons were anything but stupid, and they were some of the most intricate and well-built machines she'd ever seen, and this was coming from a girl who's visited Hephaestus' forges multiple times. But they failed to give her the satisfaction she craved when training, enjoying the feeling of fighting with another person rather than a robot any day of the week.

"You're late," Lady Nyx hissed when Annabeth came into the arena, the barracks already having trained for today. She saw as her friends started to take off their armor and fall to the floor, laughing from how sore they'd be later and generally goofing off for the moment, actually having a chance to act like teenagers instead of warriors that were willing to lay their lives down for Pontus in an instant.

Annabeth merely bowed her head, knowing she'd be punished if she spoke or looked at Nyx without the primordial's permission. Nyx's hand then jerked Annabeth's head up, the freezing cold of night burning her skin, as if she'd been thrown into the Arctic Ocean that was already full of liquid nitrogen.

"Such a shame that your pretty face will be on the receiving end of my whip," Nyx crooned, her hand tracing the side of Annabeth's face, leaving the burning cold sensation in her wake.

Annabeth then reached for the pin on her armor's strap and held it up for Nyx to see, her vision starting to grow fuzzy from the sheer pain of having Nyx's hand gripping her throat. Seconds later, she was released, leaving her to cough and sputter until she was able to breathe on her own.

"I see," Nyx said coyly, almost like a teenage girl who just found out the name of the boy that her friend likes. "You had an appointment with General Perseus, didn't you? Speak!"

"Yes, my lady," Annabeth said respectfully, her gaze fixated on her ichor spattered boots. "I was with General Perseus when the code silver was called, and he asked for my help, so I was with him up until five minutes ago."

She heard Nyx inhale sharply, making Annabeth wonder if the primordial of Night had been aware of the code at all. By the way she whirled around and lashed out at Triton, who had been on the other side of the arena, with her whip, Annabeth guessed that Nyx had been completely unaware of what had happened.

"We were under a code silver and you didn't tell me!" Nyx shouted, slapping Triton so loudly that the sound reverberated around the arena, immediately attracting the attention of all the warriors that were still in the arena. "All of you leave, now!"

The soldiers didn't need to be told twice as they all ran out of the room – all except for Annabeth, that is. She had a feeling that Nyx would want to question her about what had happened during the code silver, especially since Nyx and Selene were the best of friends amongst the generals, acting like teenage girls when left alone together yet still able to command a room with a few words.

Annabeth heard Triton wince, clearly hating the fact that he was on the receiving end of Nyx's fearsome whip. Of course, he was a god, so while it still may have caused him a whole lot of pain, he was still better off than any of the demigods or demititans that were subject to Nyx's weapon of choice.

"I didn't think it was important," Triton wheezed out, groaning again as Nyx tightened her grip.

"Not important?" Nyx bellowed. "You and I are both aware that anything other than a code red refers to the infirmary, where Selene is! If she is hurt because of your stupidity and ignorance, you will be in a whole world of hurt once Pontus lets me get my hands on you!"

Triton merely whimpered, proving once again that he was the cowardly general, unable to face one of his own. Annabeth heard Nyx sigh and someone hit the ground, presumably Triton. Within seconds, the primordial was in front of Annabeth, saying, "You may look at me and speak freely for the duration of this conversation."

"Thank you, my lady," Annabeth replied, finally meeting Nyx's eyes.

She was just as scary as Annabeth remembered from their brief encounter in Tartarus, just before she released all of her children on them and she and Percy had to flee through the Mansion of Night.

Ah, good times.

Nyx had shed the black dress in favor of her own armor which was dark as the void while different specks of light moved and flowed on the metal, as if galaxies were being born from her armor. She was more of a shadow rather than taking a physical form, and her eyes were two little pin points, like dying stars. Her wings were still as menacing as ever, darkness rolling off of them in waves and making Annabeth feel like she was slowly sinking back into that gods-forsaken pit, where the darkness was so complete she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face.

Despite feeling like she was about to have a panic attack, Annabeth dug her nails into her palms, steadying her and grounding her mind on the present instead of the path. If she gave Nyx the impression that they had met before, the primordial would've immediately blown Annabeth's cover, as she was the only female demigod that had ever made it into and out of Tartarus.

"Tell me what happened during the code silver," Nyx demanded, impatiently tapping her foot.

Annabeth told Nyx everything about what she and Percy had found in the infirmary, telling her every detail no matter how gruesome. The only thing she truthfully withheld was Nico's identity, choosing to tell Nyx that she hadn't been able to get a clear look at the attacker, but that he was under Perseus' custody.

"I see," she said at last, her whip vanishing from her hand. "I must give my thanks to General Perseus and yourself for saving my friend. I'm off to visit Selene, but in the meantime, you can train with Triton while you wait for Perseus."

"Will he mind, my lady?" Annabeth asked, glancing over at the disgraced sea god, who appeared to be debating whether he should dump a barrel full of water over his head.

"Who cares? He's the lowest ranking general, even under Leto and Hecate. I give you full access to the arena and its weaponry until Perseus arrives for your lesson."

Nyx then walked over to Triton, dumped the barrel over his head, slapped him one more time, and left the arena without a second glance in their direction. Triton snapped his fingers and the barrel immediately disappeared, and with it, the water. Scowling at what had just happened, Triton put his armor back on and turned to Annabeth.

"Suit up," he ordered, gesturing to the rest of the armor that had been left behind by the other soldiers.

Annabeth looked down, confused as to why Triton was ordering her into armor when she was already fully dressed for combat down to her vambraces and greaves. Her daggers were even sheathed at her waist, waiting for her to pull them out to play.

"Oh," Triton said sheepishly, blushing a deep green color. "Nyx killed more brain cells than I thought. Anyhow, we begin."

That night after Percy had finished his two hour long training session with Marina, he had the worst nightmare of his entire life.

Percy stood up in his dream and looked around, frowning slightly as the room he was in was almost an exact replica of the room he was currently sleeping in. The only differences were the clear tubes full of fish and the fact that the entire room shimmered in blue and green light, like looking at the sunlight while being underwater. His room in Pontus' palace didn't have any fish – the little buggers were annoying, and since they were so deep, the only fish that could be seen were huge and freaky – and everything ran on electricity, meaning no shimmering lights.

Everything down to the blue shade of his bedsheets were the same, leaving Percy slightly unnerved. He was standing by the door of the room, but even from here, he could tell something was resting in the bed.

He walked over to the bed, his hand tightly gripping the ballpoint pen in his pocket. He wasn't going to be taken by surprise, not even in a dream. Percy had learned that the hard way after Pontus had cashed in a favor with Morpheus and made Percy train through dreams, leaving him sore and injured when he woke up.

Percy's breath caught when he saw what was underneath the covers.

It was him, sleeping peacefully while that same shimmering light that filled the room covered him as well. Curious, Percy attempted to touch his sleeping body, only to be met with a pulse of energy that sent him flying back into the wall.

"What the hell?" Percy muttered to himself, getting back onto his feet and uncapping Riptide.

He returned to his body, wondering why he was here under some kinda spell. From the failsafe he'd experienced, he ruled out Hecate's magic, as she usually preferred to turn people into weasels or guinea pigs.

At the thought of guinea pigs, Percy gripped his head, feeling as if someone had just shot him in the small of his back, his most sensitive point on his body. There was a pain behind his eyes and flashes of a girl with curly blonde hair, but he couldn't make out her face or anything else about their surroundings.

A suppressed memory, Percy figured, leaving his body in favor of investigating what was going on outside the room.

When he reached for the doorknob, someone walked into the room. It was a man who appeared to be in his mid to late thirties with jet black hair and sea green eyes, the same eyes Percy saw every time he looked into a mirror.

Percy's feet moved on his own accord before he slashed at the man's neck, wanting to kill him for what he had done to Percy. Poseidon destroyed any good thing that had been in Percy's life, including a chance to raise his baby sister and have a somewhat normal life with…he couldn't exactly remember who he had been dating, but still, because of Poseidon, whoever it was thought he was dead.

And he didn't have a clue how his mom and Paul were doing, because Pontus prohibited him from contacting them at all. At first, Percy had tried to argue the fact, but he later realized Pontus was trying to protect his parents. By involving them, the Olympians would use them as weapons against him, so keeping them at a distance kept them safer than bringing them into the line of fire.

To his disappointment, Riptide passed through Poseidon's neck as if the blade was made of smoke, forcing Percy to realize that this was only a dream or a memory. Moments later, after Poseidon had made himself comfortable by Percy's bedside – only further angering him – the wall exploded, and out of the newly made hole came three men.

Percy quickly recognized Apollo as one of them, but he couldn't identify the other two. One was a boy about sixteen or seventeen with cropped blond hair and electric blue eyes. By the way sparks were flying from his fingertips, Percy labeled him as a kid of Zeus or Jupiter. Once he saw the many stripes and an eagle branded into the boy's forearm, he knew this was a son of Jupiter.

As for the other boy, he was a blur of black, standing toe to toe with Poseidon while the sea god fought with his trident. It wasn't until Poseidon smacked the boy away, forcing him to stop to gain his bearings that Percy identified the boy as none other than the son of Hades, Nico di Angelo.

"Jason, get Percy out of here!" Nico told the son of Jupiter, engaging Poseidon once again.

"No, don't touch him!" Poseidon shouted, sweeping Nico off his feet before blasting Jason into a wall with a blast of energy from his trident.

Percy watched in sick fascination as the two fought, clearly trying to kill each other. Although his recent events with Nico di Angelo still made him dislike the son of Hades, he couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of trust start to form. Nico had been willing to fight Poseidon for him.

Before a clear winner could be discerned, Percy's dream shifted.

He was no longer standing in Poseidon's palace, instead sitting by a campfire in the middle of nowhere. Snow covered the floor, meaning it was either winter wherever they were or they were really far up north. Nico di Angelo was sleeping on a log to his immediate right, the boy's skin so pale that it was almost blue from the cold.

Percy, the one who was watching the past, sat away from his and Nico's bodies, his nails digging into the palms of his hands when he saw the two of them converse like old friends. He watched as the two told Poseidon, who was here for some unknown reason, to screw off, ignoring the god while they spoke, their faces bright red.

When Percy saw that he and Nico had kissed, he almost dropped dead right there and then. This had to be some sort of joke on Morpheus' part, because no way in Chaos would Percy willingly allow for the son of hades to kiss him. Sure, he had come to terms with his bisexuality a while ago, but he hated Nico di Angelo.

The son of Hades had been the one to convince the gods to kill Percy, lying straight to their faces and telling them that he had planned alongside Kronos and Gaea in the previous wars he had fought in. Nico even convinced Poseidon to disown him, allowing him to be in agony for days while his former "friends" laughed and tortured him as his body attacked itself from the inside out.

He remembered watching as Frank, Hazel, Reyna, Bianca, and Nico hurt him, keeping him chained to a marble pillar with Celestial bronze chains like he was some kind of monster instead of a dying kid. To add insult to injury, they even brought in Poseidon a couple of times to make sure the disownment process was working, watching as his body failed since his body only had half of the necessary chromosomes left to carry daily functions.

Nico di Angelo had been his downfall, toying with his heart before ripping it out of his chest and crushing it into a fine powder.

Maybe he should thank the kid. After all, he was by far the most heartless of all the generals with the only one who could be crueler being Pontus himself. His cruelty made him strong, successful, both of which made him valuable to his father and to the army. Because of Nico di Angelo, Percy was the strongest demigod alive.

Because of Nico di Angelo, Pontus would rule the world.

Because of Nico di Angelo, Olympus would burn.

Because of Nico di Angelo, Percy was finally free.