I'm baaaaaaaaaaack. Anyways, here's an extra long chapter with a lot of action involved. Enjoy.

Chapter 10

Patience is a virtue. It is a quality which doesn't come easy to many. Demigods, mortals, all are impatient in some way or the other. Gods have been alive for many millennia so they have learnt to be patient.

Demigods have ADHD which is inbuilt in them to make them battle hardened and to sense any kind of attacks. This is one of the traits which protects demigods.

Nico was getting very impatient while waiting for Percy to get up. He had waited for 3 hours for Percy but only got frustrated by the minute. After meditating for 2 hours he had reached a trance but then his patience ran out.

Even after all the powers he had obtained from 'the voice' he still couldn't be patient, but one couldn't blame him. And being a child of the big three, his ADHD was at extreme, much more than normal demigods.

He started getting angry and nudged Percy but even Nico with his increased powers was quite wary of Percy. After all 'the voice' had told Nico about the deeds of Percy and what he was capable of. Nico knew that anybody who was capable of making a goddess fade and defeat the whole hunt in a fight easily was very dangerous.

After another long hour, Percy's hand shook. Then Percy suddenly sat up and clutched his head with his hands. Then he got up slowly with his back facing Nico and started shaking his hand. Then he raised it and tilted his head, staring at the hand continuously.

Nico's eyes widened as he expected something weird to happen. But after a few minutes he felt stupid looking at Percy so he whispered, "Hey Perseus, look here. What the hell are you doing?"

Percy immediately straightened up and turned to look at Nico, the latter stepped back in the stare of Percy. Percy walked up to Nico and stared in his eyes. Percy was taller than Nico and this added to the nervousness of the already growing fear of Nico.

Nico squeaked, "My name is Nico and I'm here to aid you in the mission of killing all demigods." Percy just punched Nico, who fell down, and then Percy kicked Nico in the gut.

Nico groaned in pain but managed to keep his voice low so that nobody could hear them. He then got up, shook his head and said, "You wanna do it this way, then fine, let's do it this way."

He then ran towards Percy and punched him in the face, but pulled his fist back in pain and clutched it with his other hand. He then said, "Ouch!What kind of a mask is that? Ouch!"

He then kicked Percy in the ribs and to his surprise Percy caught his leg and threw him onto the ground. But Nico jumped up, unsheathed his sword and slashed at Percy's arm. Then he stabbed Percy in the stomach but Percy didn't react. Even a sword made out of the essence of Tartarus couldn't affect Percy.

Percy just stood there while Nico kept twisting the sword, trying to bring some pain, any pain to Percy. Percy then grabbed Nico's throat and lifted him in the air. Nico struggled and punched and kicked in the air but to no avail. Percy would have killed Nico had it not been for a sudden and hard pain in his head.

He dropped Nico and clutched his head. Nico himself coughed and gasped for air. Then 'the voice' said in the heads of the warriors of the dark, "Fools, you don't have to fight between yourself. You are a team who fight against the gods and their children. Stop this idiotic fight and start killing the demigods."

Then it was all silent. Nico got up and shook his head, then cautiously approached Percy and pointed at his sword, "My sword. If I could just take it out ….." Percy pulled out the sword from his stomach and dropped it on the ground. Percy just kept staring at Nico and Nico stared back. The contest ended when Nico said, "We have to get out of the big-house and I don't want to waste my energy in shadow-travelling. So we will have to be stealthy. Follow me."

He then picked up his sword, walked out of the attic while Percy slowly followed him. They descended down the stairs but Nico raised his hand to motion Percy to stop as he was checking the room for any presences. Suddenly a picture of a centaur reading a book flashed in his mind and Nico knew that entering the room now would endanger the mission.

There was a centaur in the room reading a book. Nico motioned Percy to step back and they both waited for this being to leave.

Line Breaker

After showing Percy's body to Annabeth, Chiron had gone down and tried to forget the recent events by settling down with a novel and a cup of coffee. After having a peaceful time of nearly 5 hours he heard a crash upstairs in the attic.

He sighed, wishing for a vacation from all the demigod troubles and the situation with Percy. He readied his bow and arrow and then went near the stairs to check it out when, from the corner of his eye he saw a bright purple flash with the smell of wine vines in the air.

He turned around with a sigh and got ready to welcome Dionysus, who was sentenced to the demigod camp for a century.

Chiron was surprised to see the condition of Dionysus, because the wine god was drunk when he was not supposed to be so. Chiron's curiosity got the better of him and he asked the god about his state.

"Mr. D, where have you been for the past few days when you were supposed to be here? And why are you drunk? What if your father gets to know about it?"

The god stumbled around for a while and then shook his head hard, as if to shake of the drunkenness. Then he answered, "I have been in Olympus the whole time, and it was lovely. I had so much fun. But now I want to sleep. Give me a bed"

But Chiron asked again, "But how were you on Olympus for so long without Lord Zeus getting to know about it?"

Mr. D then said, "Oh, I will tell you everything right now Chiron. You will be fascinated to hear my adventures."

Flashback (Dionysus POV)

When the victory celebrations ended and the emergency council meeting began I was drunk the whole time, because father gave me the permission to drink just for that time so I took full advantage of the situation.

As it is I can't be of much use to this situation regarding Peter Johnson and father was too worked up on it along with Uncle Poseidon, Hades and Artemis.

I knew that father would concentrate more on Peter and less on me so I sneaked back to my palace and stayed there for the whole time. I kept drinking for my personal stash of wine and I drank till the next time I got a message from Hermes to attend another emergency council meeting.

I attended all the council meetings but I never said anything so nobody looked at me. After the meeting I went to Aphrodite's palace. I found her in the verandah, giving a makeover to a nymph.

"Hey Aphrodite, give me a potion that disguises my drunken smell and makes me look suitable for council meetings."

She didn't say anything at first and then, "Go inside my palace and wait in the living room. I will see you there in a few minutes."

I thought I should argue but then I quietly went inside. Her palace was all pink with pictures of her in all types of poses with numerous men. I sat on the couch near a small table which had another makeover set on it.

After a while she came in, dressed in a long a gown with a lot of make-up. I went straight to the point, "I want a potion that disguises my breath and also a makeover which makes me look suitable for the council meetings. There are a lot of emergencies these days. So the makeover should last. I have a golden opportunity to enjoy wine and I don't want to let it go."

After a few moments Aphrodite said, "You do look disgusting. I see you tried to use godly energy to disguise your drunkenness but you are also getting very exhausted because of it. A makeover is easy; I will do it for you. But what will you do for me in return?"

I should have known that she would ask something in return but didn't know what to give. While I was thinking she said, "If you think I would do it for free then you are mistaken, my fellow Olympian."

I muttered angrily, "You know, I can always go to Hecate for potions."

She then said with a shrug, "Yes you can, but her prices are exorbitant and she only does free work when the whole council tells her to do so. So you either face the wrath of your father or you give me something in exchange for my help."

I knew that my bluff had been called but I had nothing to give her so I just sighed and said, "What do you want from me?"

"Well right now, I don't have a need for anything ….but … well, I want two things from you. One is very easy and the other depends on your abilities. Do you accept?" asked Aphrodite.

I replied uneasily, "Ok, if that is what it takes? What do I have to do?"

She just grinned and said, "You are the god of madness, so you can control somebody's mind. I want you to control my husband, Hephaestus's mind and make him destroy all the traps he has laid out for me and Ares."

I was shocked. She was asking me to manipulate and then erase an Olympians memory. "I can't do that. It is impossible. Hephaestus is an Olympian, entering his mind is not going to be easy."

"Even your makeover isn't going to be easy" retorted Aphrodite.

"Oh come on, you give somebody or the other a makeover every day."I whined.

"Do you want one or not?" asked Aphrodite, albeit harshly and then she started glaring at me.

I just sighed and then shook my head and said, "What's the other thing you want?"

Aphrodite glared at me for a few more minutes and then a coy smile appeared on her face. "Well you see, Ares is quite busy these days and doesn't have much time for me. He keeps on training the whole time as he wants to fight Percy and take revenge for his humiliation. And this has caused me to be a bit …. tense these past few days."

I was thoroughly confused and she must have seen the look on my face because she continued, "Well, I was hoping that I would find some release somehow and the usual massages just don't cut it. So I am wondering if you can help me."

I was still confused but now I was speechless too. I still didn't get the meaning of her words and she must have guessed that because she just huffed and came up to me and kissed me. I was very surprised and then she broke the kiss. "Now do you know what I want?"

I kept grinning while she pulled me to her bedroom. But then I asked, "What if Ares gets to know?"

"Don't worry about that warhead, he won't know a thing and besides he will listen to almost any lie I tell him. You think about the present." Aphrodite winked.

(After a few hours ….)

When I later left the palace my drunken breath was gone and I didn't even smell. All this was the work of Aphrodite. She would do the rest when the second task was complete.

I knew that erasing Hephaestus' memories would be very tough because he was an Olympian. But the effort could be reduced if his mind would be in a weakened state.

So I took my best bottle of champagne and went to the forges of Olympus. I stood in front of his palace door but couldn't enter as I needed his permission.

So I said, "Iris, I want to talk to Hephaestus." We gods didn't need to pay a drachma like the demigods. We got free Iris Messaging for as long as we want.

A small mist formed in front of me and soon Hephaestus' image came up. As always he was at his desk working on some piece of machinery. I said, "Hephaestus, let me come into your palace right now. I want to talk to you."

Hephaestus kept tinkering with his machinery but then grunted, "I give you permission to come in my palace."

I smirked and then went into the palace. The god of blacksmiths had a big palace but it was all covered with soot and dust, and there were pieces of machineries scattered all over.

I went to the inside forges where the entire Cyclops workforce got up from their work, bowed to me and then got back to their work.

I walked straight towards Hephaestus and then said, "Hey brother, I was thinking that as you keep working all day you must get tired sometime or the other. So I say that we should go back to my palace and have some brother to brother time. Just you and me and a bottle of my best champagne as company."

I could see that Hephaestus was surprised, and why shouldn't he be? It was the first time in forever that I had ever told anything of this sort to him. He looked at me and then kept staring.

"Dionysus, are you alright? Did you just say that we have some brother to brother time?" said Hephaestus, shocked.

"Yeah, I have figured that with another war on the brink it would be a good time to spend some quality time with family. And the first god who came to my mind was you. So come on, let's drink some champagne and have some fun." lied Dionysus.

Hephaestus again had a look of concentration on his face but he agreed with little hesitation. Then we went to my palace where my powers would be stronger and nobody would see me drinking wine, especially father.

I made him sit on the couch and then went waved my hand to make 2 golden glasses appear. I then poured the drink and waited for the fun to begin.

(After 4 Hours …)

I had successfully gotten Hephaestus drunk and I could see that his current mental state was weak enough to be brainwashed.

I snapped my fingers and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Then I closed my eyes and felt my essence enter his mind.

There were actual images of machines and automatons roaming here and there in his head. I then searched for all memories related to Aphrodite and I could feel the pain that Hephaestus felt all the time because of Aphrodite's various affairs.

Heartbreak, betrayal, depression, self-pity and much more. All this made me want to cry, but I needed to do this quick.

I then searched for memories related to Aphrodite and Ares. I felt the emotions anger, fury and hate.

I kept searching till I came upon the memories of the traps that have been set up for all time. I was surprised at their simplicity yet the humiliation they would cause.

I then decided that I had spent a lot of time so I copied the memories in my mind and then deleted the original in the Hephaestus' brain.

I then came out of his mind and sat down gasping. I was exhausted but the mission was finally complete. But I felt sad, betraying my half-brother like that.

So I put a spell on him that made sure that he would remember the traps only if I wanted it to be so. Then I went to Aphrodite's palace and gave her the memories.

She took me to her dressing room which was huge. Then she started the work and after a few minutes she said, "There. It is all done now. Nobody should be able to know that you have been drinking from the past few days except for me, of course. You are free to go now."

"Wait" I asked, "Should be? You mean somebody can see through all this?"

Aphrodite just said, "Well, there is always a margin of error which even I can't avoid."

I nodded and then flashed out to my palace to see my father standing there with his arms crossed. He glared at me and I could only gulp.

He then said in an icy cold voice, "Where were you for the past few days?"

I stuttered, "Ol…..Olym…Olym…."

"Olympus. Even though you are banished you dare to disobey my command and decide to stay in Olympus. And what have you …. What have you put on your face?"

He snapped his fingers and the makeover came of showing my true drunken self. He then exploded, "You have been drinking wine behind my back. Do you think this all is a joke? Our very existence is at a threat. Perseus has become very powerful and his power keeps growing. Already a goddess has been made to fade and his barrage has just begun. Let me tell you this Dionysus, you are treading on thin ice. I will forgive you this one time but if this incident repeats itself then your banishment from Olympus will be extended to a millennium. Now get out of my sight."

I flashed out as fast as I could and came to the camp.

(Flashback Over)

"Well, your adventure had its ups and downs. For now you should sleep and have rest. You are lucky your father doesn't know about the escapade with Hephaestus …. yet." said Chiron.

By the time Chiron stopped speaking Dionysus was already asleep.

Line Breaker

As soon as Chiron took Dionysus inside Nico said to Percy, "Come on, now's our chance. We must get out of here."

Both the warriors slunk out of there though in Percy's case it was more of normal walking but even then there was not much voice made.

After exiting the big house Nico closed his eyes to scout the area using the shadows of the vegetation and the cabins as his tools. After a few moments he opened his eyes and said, "Right about now all demigods are eating their food in the big open auditorium. We will kill them all in their sleep. It is the quickest and quietest way of killing them all. But the wild card will be god of wine who just arrived in the bug house now. We must be wary of him."

He turned to face Percy but was shocked to see nobody. He softly called out Percy's name but to no avail. He kept on walking when he suddenly tripped on something. He rolled forward and unsheathed his sword to point at …. a dead rabbit.

The neck was horribly decapicitated and there was no head. The whole thing had been torn off. 'Must be the doing of Percy' thought Nico.

He kept walking and saw Percy in the distance dragging his feet toward a silver colored cabin. Nico immediately started running towards him.

Percy had been standing behind Nico, waiting for him to open his eyes when he saw a silver colored building in the distance from the corner of his eye.

He turned around and started walking towards the cabin because he was reminded of the girls who he had fought and had been captured by.

He wanted nothing but to cut down each and every last one of them. But he was stopped by Nico who was panting a lot and who said, "What are you doing? Have you gone mad? We have to be stealthy and invisible. You don't have to go crash a cabin just now. Wait for the right moment and then I will help you in doing the same."

Percy didn't listen and just kept walking. Nico had to literally drag Percy to the bushes and tie him up with a tree vine.

Percy then sat emotionless and Nico exhaled a deep breath he didn't know he was holding.

Line Breaker

Conner was very, very happy. His brother Travis, who had been busted open by Percy that afternoon, had finally come to and Connor was stealing from the Ares cabin to make Travis more cheerful.

Chiron had said that with recent events all the campers were becoming dull and irritated and that any activities that amused the others would be beneficial for the whole camp.

Then he put the responsibility on the Stoll brothers who had to do pranks and other stuff to make everybody happy.

Right now Connor was stealing weapons and clothes from the Ares cabin and taking them to his brother to show that he had successfully 'ripped off' the bullies.

He was near the Artemis cabin when he heard a voice come from the bushes. He stopped and listened and heard a person talking.

He then called out, "Who's there? Show yourself right now. If this is a prank then it is a very stupid idea because my name is Connor and I'm a Stoll. Not even the Ares cabin can stand up to my might."

There was silence. Nico punched Percy in the shoulder and whispered; "Now you have done it. If we are discovered I will kill you, immortal or not.

Percy then tugged at the vine around his leg so hard that the tree from which the vine came fell down. Connor jumped back at the sound of the falling the tree and in a quivering voice he squeaked, "Who's there?"

As he was greeted by silence he then dropped all his loot and ran towards the pavilion as fast as possible.

But a jet black spear suddenly came and pierced Connor's shoulder and he fell down. Meanwhile Nico was shouting/whispering at Percy, "I have to clean up your mess now. Screw you."

By the time Nico reached Connor the spear had disappeared. Then Nico walked up to Connor and picked him up by the throat. Connor was already in pain but when he saw Nico's face he choked out, "Nico, you….. you're here. What are you doing? Let me go."

Hearing Connor's words Nico only squeezed tighter and then choke slammed him to the ground. Connor groaned and clutched his back and head. He then tried to get up but the pain from the spear wound was unbearable and Nico was standing on the son of Hermes' abdomen, making his speech impossible.

Then Nico slowly unsheathed his sword and inserted it in the shoulder wound of Connor. Connor started to shout in pain but Nico kicked him in the jaw, effectively breaking it.

Connor was on the ground now but he was still a son of Hermes and a demigod. So he packed all his energy in one fist and tried to punch Nico. Emphasis on tried.

Nico easily caught the fist and crushed it. Connor screamed again and Nico decided to end the demigod's agony.

Nico cut off Connor's head in one clean slice. When he turned around he saw Percy almost near the silver cabin's door. Nico acted on instinct and stuck out his hand. Percy's own shadow reacted and Percy was suck on the ground.

Nico knew that someone of Percy's caliber would break off the shadow trap soon so Nico quickly ran towards Percy and dragged him back by the arm. "You want to destroy it; well I'll do it for you. Watch and learn."

Nico then walked a bit away from the cabin, taking Percy with him. Then he raised his palm which was facing the Artemis cabin and gathered all his energy, calling out to the shadows of the whole area nearby.

The shadows wrapped around the cabin slowly covering it and crushing the whole cabin. As the matter and materials were not supposed to be forced together by such sudden force there was great pressure being exerted by them for release.

Nico knew this and also that if he let the shadows relax then the whole cabin would explode. He was just waiting for the right amount of pressure. Too less pressure and the cabin would hardly be destroyed.

Too much and the sound produced would be so much that it would be heard by the campers. After enough pressure was built, Nico looked towards Percy and said, "Now see the destruction."

Nico left his control and with sudden freedom the whole cabin burst apart creating a huge boom. The explosion was huge but there was no fire or smoke. The cabin was in pieces and rubble.

Line Breaker

Phoebe was very hungry. After coming from the big house the hunters sat in the cabin trying to relax and freshen up.

Soon it was time for dinner and all the hunters left except Phoebe who said that she wasn't hungry. The truth was that she didn't want to see the disgusting faces of the male campers. And after her escapade with the killer, Perseus, she definitely needed some alone time.

After having a few hours rest she woke up to a scream. She immediately got up, readied her bow and arrow and ran to the door. She opened it to see a boy fallen on the ground struggling and screaming for nothing.

Just seeing a male filled her with so much anger that the best she could do to not shoot him right then and there was to slam the door close and go back to bed.

She woke up again after a few minutes to a rumbling. She got up dazed and looked around to see that the whole cabin was shaking. She was still groggy when the whole cabin exploded and she flew into the air, her body already filled with bruises and wounds leaking blood.

Her vision was blurry and her whole body was so numb that when she fell down on the ground she couldn't feel any pain and also not recognize the two people who were standing over her body.

Line Breaker

Seeing the hunter at his feet filled Nico's head with ideas. He could do so much with the girl at his feet. During his time in Tartarus the visions in his head had also been about the cruelty of the hunters, and how they killed men for no reason just because they had the tools to do so.

Well, it was time somebody gave them a pill of their own medicine. Phoebe started to move and was actually able to get up. Nico had to commend her; surviving the explosion was a feat in itself, but getting up after can only prove one thing – either the girl was incredibly brave or insanely stupid.

Phoebe got up and stumbled backwards and as her vision started to clear she was able to make out 2 figures standing in front of her. After a few moments she could make out that they were boys and thinking of them as male demigods she said, "What are you two idiots doing in front me? Did you blow up the Artemis cabin? You better run away or I will make sure you can never walk again for the rest of your incredibly small lives."

Expecting the demigods to flinch and run away, she was surprised when they didn't even budge. This angered her more and she punched the boy with black attire on the face. There was no effect on the boy and Phoebe was very, very surprised.

A punch like that from this distance would have broken the nose completely. Even though her vision was still hazy she could hear properly, "Well, well, well, looks like we have a hunter on our hands. It is surprising that you survived an explosion of that magnitude, let alone to get up and have the power to punch. But I have to say that that was a very pathetic punch."

As her vision came back completely she recognized the two people standing in front of her. One was the murderer Perseus, the other, the boy she had just punched was Nico, the son of Hades and the brother of the dead hunter, Bianca.

"You, you're the brother of Bianca, the dead hunter." sputtered Bianca. Now when a person says anything about somebody's dead relative it will piss anybody off, no matter who he is. And Nico was always one with a short temper.

He shouted, "How dare you say her name? You don't deserve to say her name." Then he punched the hunter on the face, breaking her nose and spraining her jaw. He felt sad when he remembered Bianca and happy when Percy grabbed Phoebe's hair and kicked her head.

Nico mumbled, "What …" before Percy pushed him out of the way, dragging the hunter along by the hair.

Reaching a nearby tree Percy left Phoebe's hair and caught her legs. Then he swung her like a bat, hitting the tree. He kept doing it till a nymph staggered out of the tree and fell down, probably unconscious.

But even then Percy continued, showing no mercy. Blood was flowing like a river from her head which had been busted open quite a while ago. Till Nico came and said, "That's enough, she's dead alright. And even the campers have started to come. Let's get out of here. I have a plan that will fill the demigods with fear."

For one last time Percy banged Phoebe against the tree and then threw her away like the dead carcass she was.

Then the two warriors walked away from the scene, waiting for the whole situation to come to unfold.

Line Breaker

Chiron was in the pavilion eating food along with 50-60 other campers who were eating food without the usual chatter. No one was themselves tonight.

Knowing what they knew, any camper would be sad. Even though the war had been won, the reason they won the war was missing. Everybody's dear hero, Percy was missing.

Chiron then stood up and shouted and stamped his hooves. Everybody's head turned to look at him and Chiron sighed as he knew that the time had finally come to tell everybody the truth.

He knew that Katie was correct, that the demigods sitting in front of him had gone through a war and come out alive, and so were mentally capable of handling the news about Percy and Nico.

He then started his explanation and not one camper interrupted, how could they after hearing that the person they considered their friend and leader was now an enemy of Olympus and the one responsible for the recent murders.

There was quietness surrounding the whole pavilion and the tension was so tense that it could be cut with a pair of blunt scissors. Chiron then said, "If nobody has anything to say then …"

He was interrupted by a huge explosion and some of the campers were so startled that they fell down from their seats. But then everybody gathered their wits and rushed towards the sound.

It was surprising how a bunch of shocked and silent children had suddenly transformed into a trained group of warriors who were ready for anything from monsters to ….. well, monsters.

Chiron galloped towards the explosion but couldn't see any smoke or fire. Because of his speed he reached first and saw the ruins of a cabin.

And seeing the rest of the cabins he realized that the destroyed cabin was none other than the Artemis cabin. He could also make out three bodies – two near the tree and one between the Artemis and Apollo cabins.

Chiron was so shocked at seeing the sight before him that he couldn't move. The other demigods reached the scene and took in the destroyed cabin and the three bodies lying around.

The hunters immediately blamed the male demigods for no reason and a fight broke out. Then a small hunter named Pamela went near the bodies near the tree and recognized one of them to be of Phoebe's.

She started shouting and all the hunters crowded around the dead hunter. The demigods recognized the body of Connor Stoll and all the campers crowded around him.

Seeing that Chiron was frozen still and there were fights erupting between demigods and hunters, Annabeth knew she had to take control. 'But what to do to get their attention?' thought Annabeth.

Suddenly Thalia shouted, "The nymph is still alive."

Annabeth rushed towards the place and saw Thalia cradling the nymph in her lap. The nymph was speaking between short breaths, "Something was ….. hitting the tree. At first I thought it was a camper who got pushed ….. against the tree. So I ignored it. But when it happened again … and again there was so much pain that I couldn't bear it. After a few more hits …. I came out of the tree and saw a boy ….. holding a girl by the legs. The girl was bleeding … uncontrollably from the head. By then I had fallen down."

Thalia then said, "It's okay. You should rest now. Everything will be alright."

The nymph nodded and then closed her eyes. Thalia grimaced and then said, "Tell every camper and hunter that there is an intruder in camp. All the guards should be handling the posts that they are supposed to. And all the cabin counselors will come to the big house for a meeting. All this should happen within the next 15 minutes."

Annabeth was going to tell all of this to Chiron when there was another huge explosion and everybody looked in the direction of the sound to see the Dionysus cabin all blown but without any sign of fire or smoke.

Standing a bit away from the rubble were two boys, one of whom had his palm raised and facing the destroyed cabin while the other was standing completely motionless, staring at the demigods.

The boys started walking towards the assembled crowd and everybody could make out the face of Nico and the mask of Percy. The whole group was stunned. 'Wasn't Nico in Tartarus? Who is the masked boy? They destroyed the Dionysus Cabin?' were some of the questions thrown around.

Nico then said, "And what do we have here? A dead hunter and demigod? I'm sorry but I just can't help it. It is a lot of fun destroying cabins and killing demigods. The boy died in horrible pain but I relieved him in the end. And you can't imagine the fun I had with the girl lying there. Do you know that in the end she was enjoying it all?"

Thalia said, "What are you saying Nico? Are you all right? And get away from Percy, he will kill you. You have no idea what he has become."

"On the contrary, you have no idea what hehas become. Anyways enough idle chat. I am here to fight. Do you have what it takes to beat me or are you a weakling like those carcasses?"

Thalia cried, "Shut the fuck up you bastard. I will make sure that you visit your father in hell."

Nico just smirked, "Where did you think I have come from?"

Thalia took out her spear and Aegis, her shield and shouted behind her shoulder, "Nobody interrupts me and him." Then she ran towards Nico. The son of Hades just got in a loose fighting stance and waited. Thalia started running sideways and Nico ran close behind.

Meanwhile Annabeth had walked to the front of the crowd and was staring at Percy. She then walked towards Percy slowly and started talking, "Seaweed Brain, what have you become? Why are you doing this? At least answer me. Say something. Do you even remember me? I am your Wise Girl."

Percy just kept staring at Annabeth without saying a word. Annabeth was approaching closer than ever to her ex best-friend and current mass murderer.

Annabeth continued, "I should have said this to you before, when you were….. you. But it seems I am too late. For the first time in my life I regret thinking from my mind and not my emotions and feelings, from my heart. I love you Perseus Jackson. I love you so very much."

By this time Annabeth was inches away from Percy, "But even my love for you cannot make me oblivious to the pain you have caused. The people you have killed. As much as I love you I cannot let you hurt the ones closest to me. I am sorry it had to come to this."

Annabeth then took out her knife, twirled it between her fingers and tried to stab Percy in the stomach but he caught her hand.

She stared at her with those ever beautiful sea green eyes of his. Annabeth was star struck and mesmerized. He backhanded the daughter of Athena and flung her to the ground.

Annabeth rolled back and then stood up in a full fighting stance.

Nico was having fun. His opponent, Thalia was a very strong demigod and had a lot of experience as she was able to match Nico blow for blow. But what they both already know was that Nico was just toying with her.

Thalia was using her full force while Nico's sword was still sheathed. Thalia sliced at his neck with her spear but Nico ducked and kicked Thalia but she blocked with her shield. Even then she was forced back because of the power.

Then he said ran towards her and jabbed her in the face and stomach again and again. His strikes were so quick that Thalia didn't have time to raise her shield.

Nico then drew his fist back for a final punch and Thalia managed to raise her shield to block her face. But Nico changed his tactic and kicked her in the stomach and Thalia bent over and got axe-punched by Nico on the back.

Thalia fell down on her knees as Nico said, "I think warm-ups over, let's begin the real fight shall we?"

Thalia wiped her mouth and then said, "Yeah let's do that." Nico formed a sword of shadow while electricity began coursing through Thalia's spear.

Nico ran toward Thalia and sliced at her neck and abdomen but she blocked both the times. Thalia then swung her shield at his head but a shield of shadow appeared from nowhere and blocked the strike.

Thalia was surprised and stumbled back because of the recoil of her own force and Nico kicked her in the head with a roundhouse, stunning Thalia.

Then Nico slashed at Thalia's hands which made her drop her weapons. He proceeded to kick her in the abdomen but she caught his leg. Electricity started coursing through her as she shocked Nico with as much power as she could give.

Thalia then swung the leg and threw Nico to the ground. Nico was dazed but shook his head to shake of the grogginess.

He then smirked and said, "If it's a bout of powers you want, it is what you will get."

Then Nico's sword disappeared and an aura of darkness covered him from head to toe. "Let's begin round three now, shall we?"

Thalia just grimaced in response as her body again arched with electricity.

Annabeth was having a hard time fighting Percy – partly because he was so strong and partly because she was holding back.

The only reason she had even survived till now was because of her reflexes. She put on her invisibility cap but Percy immediately caught her and flung her on the ground, tearing her invisibility cap.

She pleaded, "Percy, don't do this, please. Don't do this. We can get you help, please.

Percy then ran towards Annabeth with lightning speed and punched her on her jaw line. Annabeth wasn't fast enough to dodge and the blow would have knocked her out had she not rolled her head along the path of the punch.

Then he kicked Annabeth and she fell on the floor. Annabeth then shouted, "Seaweed Brain" and threw her knife at Percy. He caught it but Annabeth took the time to kick the distracted Percy.

Percy stumbled back and Annabeth punched him on the mask … and her hand broke. "Ahhhhhhhh, my hand" shouted Annabeth.

Then Percy kicked Annabeth and she fell on the floor. He then crouched over her and punched her, knocking her out. But even then he continued till Clarisse interrupted. She said to her fellow demigods, "I don't know how you can watch all of this but I surely can't."

She then brought her knee to Percy's face, which made him stumble back, more in surprise then in harm. Clarisse continued, "I am not as weak as the others Prissy. I will kill you before you harm anybody else. You don't know how long I have waited for this rematch."

She then readied her electric spear, Maimer 3 and ran towards Percy. Percy tilted his head and stood that way till Clarisse was almost in striking distance.

Then he stuck out the palm of his hand and deflected the spear. Because of the momentum Clarisse kept running and Percy bought his arm up to clothesline her but she ducked.

She then roundhouse kicked him on the back but it had no effect on him. He then elbowed behind his back and got rewarded with a big 'Ouch' and the cracking of bone. Looking behind he saw that Clarisse's nose was broken and blood was continuously flowing out of it.

Clarisse was hunched over in pain and he kneed her face and then punched her. Clarisse fell down but she still had some life left in her. The Percy started punching and kicking her but didn't kill her …. yet.

Meanwhile, Nico and Thalia had begun to fight with their powers. Thalia was bringing down bolts from the sky which Nico kept defending himself from by bringing up shadow shields. Nico smirked, then raised a hand and watched, amused, as dark tendrils snaked around Thalia's ankles and up her legs. She struggled, causing her to lose balance and fall. Thalia snarled at the expression on Nico's face and charged herself up with lighting before releasing it straight at her opponent.

Nico decided to take the bolt head on so as to make Thalia feel weak, but when the lightning struck him he didn't anticipate the power behind it and so got scorched.

Thalia smirked, expecting to see Nico down and out but when the smoke cleared the only difference was that his hair was standing and his arms were covered with soot. He then grinned and said, "Not bad, not bad at all. But you have to know that I am much, much stronger than you and your attacks will not harm me in the slightest."

Thalia just said, "Well, that means I will have to try again and again."

She ran towards Nico and sent small bolts on the way. They did nothing more than irritate him as he had a slight scowl on his face.

Thalia then jumped and grabbed Nico's shoulders with a sudden burst of speed, and then used all her power to give him the biggest lightning bolt she had ever given anybody.

Nico's eyes widened as he felt the fatal lightning attack his body and he managed to cover his body with a thin layer of protective shadow-membrane. Then Thalia stepped back and kneeled, gasping, as she had used all her power and could not continue anymore.

Nico then stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and with a savage grin on his face. He then spoke, "That was a good one, really surprised me. But as I told you before, you don't have enough power to harm me. Now it's my turn. But to make sure that your friends don't come in between …"

Nico waved his hand and a dome appeared which covered Thalia, Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse and himself. He then said, "Let this fight be to the death. I will prove to everyone how strong I am after killing the daughter of Zeus and Lieutenant of Artemis."

Then Nico took out his actual sword, which was made by the essence of Tartarus, and slowly walked towards Thalia.

She was so tired that she didn't have the power to sit up and she closed her eyes, praying to her father for help. She knew it would be worthless as the gods rarely answered their children's prayers on time.

She finally accepted her fate, to die in Camp Half Blood by the hands of her own cousin. Suddenly she felt a huge flash of light and opened her eyes to see the whole Olympian council along with Hades standing in the middle of the dome in full battle armor.

She sighed and then mentally thanked her father. Nico looked at the gods, blinked and then started laughing, "The Olympians are finally here. I was beginning to wonder when you would come. Now the proper fight will begin. I have to ask, was it easy to penetrate my shadow dome?"

Zeus said in a cold voice, "Give yourself up Nico Di Angelo. You cannot win against the whole Olympian council. Surrender and we might think about not erasing you from existence."

Nico burst out laughing again, "You think I should surrender? Can't you see that I can kill your daughter in one strike? I can erase this camp from existence in the very next minute but that would do now good for my cause. I hold all the cards right now Zeus and there's nothing you can …"

Nico was interrupted by Ares who shouted, "Perseus Jackson, you bastard, I will destroy your very existence and make sure you never reform. How dare you touch my daughter?"

Then Ares revealed his godly form and ran towards Percy. The other gods tried to stop him but he was long gone. Percy calmly stood up, leaving the near-dead Clarisse to be, with his back facing Ares.

Ares was blinded by anger, hate and vengeance and so he failed to Percy's hand creeping toward his pocket. Ares thought that Percy was unarmed. Percy just put his hand in his pocket and in a very invisible motion took out a pen, which he opened to form Riptide.

He hid the sword by holding it in front of him, making Ares think he was unarmed. After Ares was close enough Percy turned and stabbed Ares ribs.

Ares stumbled back and coughed up blood while Percy pulled out his sword. "Where ….. the sword?" asked a confused Ares.

Then 'the voice' started talking, using Percy as a medium, "Hello Olympians, I am your destruction and that is all you need to know right now. But you should get ready to watch your god of war get destroyed. You have no idea what you are facing and I give you the chance to give up. Surrender and I might deal with you less harshly. But …. as an incentive to help you on the correct path …"

Percy then dropped his sword and stepped forward, picking up Ares by the neck and back, "to make you suffer through your pain ….. to prolong your agony, I will …"

All the gods watched, mortified and horrified as Percy slammed Ares' back on his knee while the voice simultaneously shouted, "BREAK YOU"

Percy then threw Ares on the ground, who was now slightly spasming. In a symbolic act Percy broke Ares' back. 'The voice' continued, though it was fading, "Think about it Olympians, do you want such things to happen to the others too, just because they are fighting on your side?"

Apollo yelled in anger and ran towards Percy with his bow ready. Nico saw this and ran towards Percy too, who was standing straight. Nico jumped to reach Percy a few seconds before Apollo and the warriors of 'the voice' disappeared in a black mist.

Apollo then ran towards Ares who was now unconscious and transported both of them to his palace. The other Olympians also flashed out taking Thalia, Annabeth, Clarisse, Connor and Phoebe with them.

Well, how was it? Please R&R.