Yo guys, so I finished this chapter extra early, so I decided to publish it! Actually no. That was a lie. I had intended for this chapter about them going home and being at camp and stuff, but apparently my brain's like "No….."

"Ple-"

"No….."

Stupid brain. I hope you like this chapter though, it's pretty important. The NEXT one will technically be the real End of Act 2. So look forward to that one!

Another thing, there's a few flashbacks in this one, but I think I kept it at a low. I am really getting into writing the beginning part of the chapter. Hopefully you'll start getting comfortable with the character. IT IS THE SAME PERSON FROM BEFORE, though he/she might sound a bit differently.

P.S. If anyone can find the reference and where it's from in the italic part, gets a… PM of 533 "You're Awesome"s?

Behind Blue Eyes- The Who

"13!" She called out to me; my skin tingled at her sharp voice. "Take left, 13 meters forward and engage." What? But that meant I was going in alone, without anyone to back me up. Was she trying to sacrifice me? Like I'll let that happen!

I bit back my anger, the memory of the last argument was still vivid in my mind, she may look small and weak however I can't underestimate her, not again.

I sprinted pass the white block barricade into the hallway on the left. 13 meters shouldn't be too hard. The walls ended, revealing no possible cover from the enemy, Number 3 WAS trying to eliminate me! Damn, I shouldn't have listened.

From behind, the bangs of combat ignited; a series of explosions lighted the hallway. My head snapped to the direction where the sound flooded, across the wall, maybe 20 meters away. Maybe it was a decoy, am I suppose to end this game?

Continue, I need to end this; I'm the only one who could now. No one stood a chance against me; none of those mongrels can come close to me! My grip tightened around my thin sword, I have to be quick. My steps disappeared as I held my breath, a useless trick of mine, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful.

There across the wide arena like hallway was a small corridor, the enemy gate, I just need to reach it and we'll win. So close, I can almost feel the cold steel of the handle in my scrapped and scarred hands.

"Not so fast!" An enemy dropped down from the walls to the far right. Had he exited the battle just to stop me? Or did he try to escape? Either way, I'm not going to be stopped by him! "So quiet, like some rat." The enemy held one short sword in his right hand and a reaper in his left, chained together by a small metallic string.

"A filth thinks it can stop me?" My voice trembled, I swung my sword to the side, a small line traced the ground where it had hovered over. "How amusing."

"We are numbers for a reason, didn't you know?" The enemy said as he flipped his reaper, a smug smirk curved on his lips. "They're rank, 13." My teeth gritted against each other as he spoke, I can feel my footing become heavy as I prepared for battle. "So someone such as you, the lowest of the 13 can never imagine to surpass me."

I didn't know what he was, and frankly I didn't care. His very face pissed me off. The nerve of this mongrel, talking like he had the right to do so! Not now. Not here, in my presents he is nothing more than a mutt.

My feet pushed off the ground, my body flashed forward in a speed that could barely be seen. I could feel my blade stain against the air as I swung; a thin layer of blue followed my motion.

The tyke managed to avoid my sword by dropping to the side; he sprung up and slashed with his 2-feet long blade, grazing my cheek as I slanted away. His blade turned and slashed again, my sword parried his, only for him to slash a third time.

I needed space; this mutt was far too close for my sword to be used effectively. I jumped out of his blade's swing when he released his reaper. The curved blade swung on the string, extended behind me and around my back, closing me in its grip.

"Jointed Shock!" The mutt shouted, the metal string lighted with buzzing electricity, the voltage seeped into my body, burning my flesh and shutting off my limbs. I was becoming numb, but my legs still had enough energy in them to react.

I sprinted forward and climbed the bleached wall, my feet clinging the smooth surface. My body arched backwards, my legs flipping over my head as I swung my right leg and slammed into the enemy's shoulder, forcing him down. The chain loosened and released, my arms moved out and supported my landing.

Before the mongrel could attack once more, I flashed passed him, he swung his blade to follow me. The reaper was released to trap me once more when I flashed again between him and the wall. The reaper stuck to the white walls leaving him helpless.

He swung his blade at me as I jumped into the air, flashing above him, my sword slashed downwards, the mutt barely tore away from the wall fast enough to dodge my blade, but the chain was severed into two.

"Crescent Streak!" My blade slashed into his in six directions in a blink of an eye, the blade leaving behind green ribbons of light. My body twisted in a circle slashing my blade into the enemy's readied chain, a spark of green burst him briefly.

He managed to block my sword at the cost of his remaining strength, his chain that used as a shield crumbled into chunks of useless metal. He turned his head, waving from side to side to find me, when I dropped from the walls and slashed him from shoulder through.

The body dropped limp, of course it stayed one piece, my blade passed through the body, allowing me to better preform combination without being interrupted.

The gate! I realized and speeded for the door, when suddenly the bell rung, the white walls grayed, all of the light dimmed. The game was over? But I... I stared at the dark ceiling far above. I was so close!

"Hm." The enemy grunted from his place on the floor. "Well, I didn't beat ya, but I got my job done." He laughed, becoming the only sound in the lone hallways. No doubt it was number 2 once again.

My fists turned white. Damn, Number 2 was undefeatable; so many times we came so close. But we could never win, not against Number 2. Let me rest, this was all so chaotic, one moment I was completely blank the next I was told to participate in some game of life and death. What's going on? Who am I?

He could hear it; the boom of thunder as Zeus plowed the ground, ripping the earth apart into new land, lands without traces of human civilization. They were being whipped out; the human race was waning around Percy. All he could do was cover his ears, to drown out the shaking roars.

The thunder was far away, hundreds of miles away from them, but they could still hear the trimmers and high cries for help. What could they do? Fight back? Of course not, he had enough of fighting, for 5 years he fought. He killed and suffered for them, he cried and battled for them, and now they were searching for him, a cross with his name on it.

There was no hope, he tried to fight and so did everyone else. They didn't just simply give in to a takeover, but there was nothing they could do. All those "powerful" Halfbloods, those "heroes" fell like dominoes. Percy never knew how easy a human could split clean in half. He chuckled to himself.

The storage house echoed with whimpers and cries. The remaining humans are here, surviving. Barely surviving, even 3 days now, they still cried and sulked. Why did they spend all of their energy on tears, what waste.

A smile crossed his lips, how ironic, the thoughts coming from him. What a hypocrite. But he didn't cry, I wouldn't allow it, he wasn't going to give into the gods' torments.

This is the end; he'll either die crying or live out with this solemn mask. The last thing he needed were people looking down on him. Yeah that's right, I'm a Demigod, I'm completely useless. Weak and pathetic, dead weight.

[]

"Why?" Percy managed out; he wanted to ask so many questions, so many feelings and emotions that could never be formed into words. Why?

The demon chuckled into his hands. It was amused no doubt, amused by Percy's pathetic respond, his weak resolve. The demon rose to its full height, 20 feet towering over Percy. He felt like some kind of bug, paralyzed in fear and dread. That was an understatement; he could endure hell a thousand times over and never truly feel the terror he did now.

"Why?" The demon laughed at the thought, the voice boomed so loudly that Percy raised his hands to cover a wave of dust. "You are pathetic, so insignificant that considering you an ally was completely absurd."

Percy swallowed; his head fell facing the ground eyes wide open. He felt a strange pain in his guts, a mixture of anger and what could only be described as death. It was the feeling of betrayal, his loyalty shattering before his very eyes. This marks the end, the death of Percy Jackson.

The demon slammed its purple and black trident into the paved road, drawing up chips and pebbles.

[]

"We need to head that way." Percy pointed with his left hand, his right covering his eyes from the burning sun.

"But that'll take us into the desserts." Alex grumbled. "We can't hope to survive in those conditions. Not for anything more than a few days."

Percy didn't answer at first, only staring over the still, deserted grounds miles away. Small buildings lied beyond the dying trees.

"We can't enter that area." He said shortly. "Many won't make it, but whatever happens we can't near that gas station, not anywhere close to it."

"If that ensures the safety of the rest of our party." Alex sighed.

"There is no ensuring anything anymore." Percy turned away and walked down the small dirt hill they stood on.

[]

"Hello." Percy waved to the transparent lady, who gave no response. Her glassy eyes stared into Percy's and immediately he felt as if he was being read. He coughed and turned away; his mind instinctively began to fight back against the invisible force that was trying to pry into his mind.

"Don't worry." The aged man said with a smile. "She isn't going to hurt you, she's just burdened and doesn't feel up to the task of socializing."

"Burdened?" Percy asked, avoiding eye contact with the lady of blue glass.

"Yes, ever since we Titans had awakened, Mnemosyne has carried the extreme burden of history, a recording of all knowledge from before creation." Prometheus nodded to the lady. "So do give her a complement every once in a while." He winked.

I guess… "You're beautiful?" Percy said stupidly. Mnemosyne didn't react she only followed his movements. Come on; give me something to work with!

Prometheus laughed as if he heard Percy's thoughts.

"Like I said, don't worry. She'll start speaking once she is confortable." He gave a smile and pat Percy on the shoulder. "Be kind to each other."

Percy was left in the meeting room with the see-through girl staring blankly at him.

"So, do you like barbecue?" Percy laughed to himself. His voice died down when Mnemosyne didn't so much as shake her head. "What about the color blue? The ocean? Bacon? Apple? Macintosh? Coke? Pepsi? Suits? Canoeing?"

"Yes." She finally said, a light and firm voice. "I like barbecue."

"Really?" Percy tilted his head. "Well, I guess we can have one someday, though being outside is dangerous nowadays."

"Outside?" She tilted her head, copying him.

"Yeah, how else are you supposed to have a barbecue?" She stared blankly at him. "You don't know what a barbecue is, do you?"

Percy breathed in the sand, his face plastered in the dry hot ground. He could feel his blood pouring into the absorbent sand. His body tingled; it felt loose and flimsy, like a worn glove. The memories flashed before he felt the actions he took and realized the thoughts he thought, it was like a dream.

A gurgle, a raspy grunt along with heavy hiss of breathing, the thing that was left behind after Lectus had vanished was a body, a body of black blood. It towered over Percy's form; it slowly lifted its arm, aiming for a pounce.

Percy could barely keep his eyes open, but he still pushed against the sand in a feeble attempt to rise.

"Hey!" Luke stabbed his blade out, the claw of the bloody form hit the flat of the blade and backed off, clearly it didn't have energy for battle either. But it had enough to leap forward.

Luke stepped in between Percy and the humanoid; he slashed Backbitter, layers of light following his sword like an after image. He slashed an X and slammed his left fist into the monster's chest; a pulse of green pushed the monster into the air. The black blood cracked and peeled off.

The whole world flicked into black, but it wasn't "dark". Luke could still see his hands perfectly fine, and his two comrades as well. A low rumble echoed through the darkness as a streak of light crawled down. It was a crack that moved around them, circling them like a cage.

The darkness shattered into fading shards, leaving the real world. They were back in the temple in the lowest level, the circular room with red mud walls and burning fire carvings.

"Percy." Luke knelt down and held Percy's shoulders. "Are you alright?" Now with his shirt ruined, Luke saw the blue crystal in Percy's chest, a pulsing blue aura that leaked into Percy's broken skin.

"I'm alright." Percy breathed, slowly sitting up. He groaned when he was upright, his back feeling like burning rocks. Percy's head rose and his eyes stared pass Luke.

The blonde followed Percy's gaze and his eyes fell upon the form of Hermes, sitting on the stone table in the center of the room. He has one foot on the edge of the table and both hands interlocked on his knee. Hermes smiled his warm smile and closed his eyes.

"Hello Luke." Hermes whispered in a faltering voice.

Luke stared shocked in horror or relief, Percy couldn't tell.

"H-Hey, Hermes." Luke's voice was hesitant, like he thought the image was only an illusion. Hermes seemed to cringe when Luke referred him to "Hermes"."W-What are you doing here?" Luke asked, taking a step closer. He knew before he even asked the question, be he refused to believe in his theory.

Hermes dropped his head and turned to the side.

"You've done great Luke." Hermes said quietly, Luke simply stared, unsure of how to answer. "You were strong and brave, you resisted the corruption." He sighed, moving his right hand up his left arm. "You've accomplished something that I wouldn't have even imagined of. I'm so proud…"

Still Luke didn't respond he hung his head, conflicted, Percy thought.

"You haven't forgiven me yet, huh?" Hermes smiled weakly. "That's alright, I understand, we all have reasons for our actions." Luke wasn't sure if Hermes meant that as an excuse for himself or for Luke's attitude.

Percy wanted to call out to Luke, but he couldn't find his voice. There are some things you can't know about.

"You weren't there for us." Luke said. "You were nowhere to be seen when we needed you. When I needed you."

Hermes felt the pain of his contrasting actions. He wanted to tell Luke that he was wrong, he wanted to depend on Luke, but if he did, then the prophecy might become reality.

"I know"

Luke's fist grew white. "I wasn't good enough for you. I wasn't strong enough for your pride."

"That's not true!" Hermes stood from the tomb. "You are the greatest child I have ever had."

"I'm not strong enough to earn a quest, because I failed before."

"No," It was because I almost lost you before, I can't… Hermes sank back; he leaned against the stone slab and wrapped his left arm around his midsection. "I could not wish for a greater child."

"Then prove it!" Luke stepped forward, locking eyes with Hermes. In those eyes Hermes saw something, something that reminded him of Odysseus, strong and determined, so stubborn, like an immovable force. He knew that nothing in the worlds would change his mind; nothing would prevent Luke from doing something great.

Luke was a child that will make a landmark, set a change in the history of time, and what Hermes is doing would only force Luke another path of equal value but lacking in fellowship.

Hermes coughed, his breaths wheezing out. He removed the black suit around his stomach and found underneath a white crack that stretched across from his left thigh to his lower right rib.

Luke stepped closer, his eyes widened in realization.

"Very well." Hermes hacked out. "You have proven to me that you are capable." He breathed and spoke in his soft voice. "Come here." Hermes waved.

Luke walked up with hesitation, his arms tensed when Hermes placed his hand on Luke's shoulder.

Hermes brushed Luke's chin and followed up his cheek, passing through the deep scar on his face. As he passed, a cool dampness matted Luke's skin. Hermes pulled his hand away, for Luke to feel. There where that ugly scar had been was smooth skin, Hermes has taken away his only wound that still hurt, the last existing proof of his failure.

"I hereby grant you a quest." Hermes whispered. "The world is coming to a halt, everything is closing in all together, I can feel it. And when the worlds collide, your quest is to keep the Demigods safe. This is a quest only you can accomplish. I want you to liberate them, lead them. Become a hero and make certain this virus-" he lifted his jacket wider. "- will no longer pass." The crack grew larger, chipping away at Hermes's face.

"What will happen to you?" Luke asked holding onto Hermes's shoulders.

"Don't worry, I will merely retreat and rest. But I will return." Hermes sighed. "Be strong and never fight alone." His form shimmered and vanished, leaving the room dimmer than before.

The walls moaned and creaked, small chunks of the ceiling began to crumble.

"We need to go." Percy pushed himself up, the stone at the center of his chest shined as he exerted energy. He turned in a circle and found Bianca sitting on the staircase where they have entered. She looked around in a daze.

"What's going on?"

"We have to go!" Percy grabbed Bianca and pulled her up. "Luke, go, fly out first."

"I can't leave you guys." He took one of Bianca's arms and pulled her around him. "Anyways, the whole place is falling, being in the air isn't the safest choice."

"Oh darn, and here I was trying to get rid of one of you." Percy held the other arm against Bianca's complains and pulled her up the narrow staircase.

After they picked up their bags sitting on the side of the stairs, then ran/walked through the dark hallway and moved for the small opening that they made last time.

The tall columns fell onto them; Percy swung his arm and batted one away with a flare of yellow light. Finding the opening was harder then they suspected, considering it was still dark, but the hall was fairly rectangular making the search easy.

They burst out of the temple making it to the edge of the fence. Percy reached for his sword but Lucifer vanished from his pocket.

"Luke! Cut the wires." Percy shouted. "We need as much distance as possible."

In a blink, Backbitter was release; the fence stood no chance against the expert cuts and opened up wide enough for them all to cross at once. Percy directed them to the cover of a nearby tree and the night sparked with light.

The temple exploded with flame, jetting into the night sky. Large chunks of the temple bulldozed through the woods, smashing into the trees, tearing them from their roots. One square of bricks slammed into the ground next to the three, rolling through the mud and carving a deep trench.

"Everyone okay?" Luke's voice could be heard from the dusty woods.

They traveled in a slow pace for Bianca and Percy to rest up. Percy gave the directions for them to head towards the shores at the nearby hillside. A small set of stairs on the side that they must have missed on their drives that led down to the steep waters. A motorboat waited there, tied to the rocks.

"How the hell did you expect me to have traveled back?" Percy smirked at Bianca.

"I thought you ran?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, there. No way was I going to run all the way back." Percy climbed into the speedboat and extended his arm out for Bianca. She took it and jumped off of the wet rocks and onto the boat, water splashed upwards from her sudden weight. "Be careful!"

Luke slumped into the vehicle as well, more carefully. He took his seat next to the captain's.

"I presume you'll be driving?" He asked.

"Nope." Percy grabbed the key from one of the cup holders and tossed it to Luke.

"Be gentle, no rough turns, aaaand that away." Percy pointed to a direction off the shore.

"Well at least help me start this." Percy turned the boat on and quickly run by the basic functions of each lever, the important ones anyways. He stood by Luke for the first 15 or so minutes, then when he was sure he could handle it, Percy lumped onto a long seat in the back and lied down.

"Where did you get this anyways?"

"The next town over." Percy yawned. "Very high-tech there, had some difficulties picking one out."

"Was that the only reason you ran out of the temple before?" Luke turned to look over his shoulder before turning back.

"Hardly." Percy sighed, his arms knitted behind his head.

"So what was the reason?"

"Would you believe me if I said that I wasn't satisfied with the ending?" Percy looked up; Luke seemed to want him to elaborate. "You know that feeling that everything was coming to an end? Well, I didn't feel it so I decided to prolong the story."

"Uh-Huh." Luke sounded doubtful.

"Well, another thing. Remember the whole 'someone's watching us' thing?" Luke nodded. "I had a feeling that it wanted to lure us into the temple. And I wasn't going unless I figured out what we were up to.

"That can't be it." Luke shouted over the waves. Even though he could see them being picked off much easier if Percy and Bianca had came into the sanctum with him. "You can't possibly say that you potentially risked 4 lives just because of paranoia."

Percy stayed silent, listening to the wave.

"What about this. Would you believe me if I said that there's this rare anomaly that occurs at a certain place for a certain time. This anomaly gathers Empty, monster, essence from defeated monsters and clusters them together, essentially recreating the bodies of the monsters for their souls to reclaim them. This process is could Spontaneous Generation.

"When you slay an Empty, their souls are sent back to Hades, but their bodies are scattered. It's because of this anomaly that the monsters return nearly as fast as it does."

Luke didn't speak and try to process this very new information. It was true that concerning monsters, they knew very little scientifically, in fact the majority of discovers have been created quit recently, like regeneration time and rate of different monsters, but nothing like this.

"In the next town, I found proof that would bring my theory to 80% certainty."

"Which is why you borrowed those bombs?" Luke gave a devious smile. "You could have warned me."

"I didn't take them, I made them." Percy smirked.

"So why do you suppose Lectus was going after this anomaly?"

"That's saying if he was going for it particularly, if so, I have no idea why." Percy raised his right hand and stared onto the tear and bruises on it. "Anyways, I'd bet Annabeth would love to make a few assumptions, so lets wait."

The rest of the ride remained in silent. Percy closed his hand and set it aside. He shifted his body to face away from everyone else and said to himself, under the sound of the waves: "I can't feel…"

[]

"What?" Percy breathed out. "What do you mean?!" He flared his arms. "She can't be! She was fine! She was walking and talking and…" He pressed his hand on his mouth, his eyes moved with unrest and guilt. "She didn't feel any pain. She didn't show any symptoms of Limit Break."

"This condition is more on the rare side for sure." The lady pulled out her clipboard for reference. "Considering that there haven't been any Demigods who practiced Arcanum, these new side affects were certain to come up." She pressed her clipboard to her chest. "This might be closely related to the second stage of Limit Over Acceleration, the Limit Break concerning overload or overuse of Arcanum.

"The second stage shuts down the nerves operating in your body, in this case it only shut down the Arcana coils that are in her body."

"H-How- what happened? Will she be alright?" Percy's strong and loud voice was now soft and fragile.

"She overextended herself." The doctor said. "Used far too much Arcana, the strain ripped her Arcanum circuits apart, loosened them too far beyond repair. The strain from the Arcana is accelerating her physical body to the point that her flesh is practically rotting. Furthermore, the loosened coils are unable to hold any Arcana and therefore she is losing a dangerous amount."

"Then can't we just pump some more into her?" Percy pleaded. "I can do it! We can all just give some of ours to her, right?"

"The compatibility difference aside, Arcana that is introduced into her body from outside sources will only quicken the decay."

"That can't be. I didn't mean to." Percy mumbled out he needed for someone to hear him, he needed for someone to know that he didn't want her to die. "I-I-I couldn't h-help her." He breathed into his hand. "I couldn't do… anything." His teeth gritted together. "I'm sorry."

A gentle hand set on Percy's shoulder, his head rose and saw the sorrowful face of Prometheus.

"I-I-"

"I understand." Prometheus hushed him. "It wasn't your fault, you were disabled."

"I just sat there!" Percy could feel hot tears budging from his eyes. "I didn't do anything…"

"With war comes death, you must except that fact." Prometheus squeezed Percy's shoulder. "We cannot prevent the deaths. We can sulk and weep and fret. Then what? What can we accomplish when we do cry and mope? Tears won't bring back the dead. Cry your tears then stand a stronger man."

Percy brushed aside his tears and breathed in deep.

"Go now." Prometheus stood to the side. "Rena wishes to speak with you before she loses the chance."

Percy walked down the hallway with a heavy chest, opened the door with a tingly hand. The room was small; a window that was half board up, a nightstand with a empty cup on it, and a table with a jar of water.

"Pass me that, would you?" The girl raised her left hand and pointed to the water.

Percy swallowed and took the jug in his hands; he moved around to the nightstand and poured the water into the glass. The water trickled in a small line; it was all his shaking hands could manage.

"That's enough." Rena said softly when the water didn't even reached half the cup. He handed the cup to her; she held it in her pale hands. They shook even more than his when she tried to sip from it. The content splashed out onto the blanket.

Percy knelt down and layered his hand over her hands, helping her steady. They were weak, almost not even holding onto the glass.

Percy stood up and stepped back.

"You don't have to act all sad." Rena said, not looking at him. "The doctor didn't tell me much, but I got the point. And you're not really the quietest person." She turned towards him and smiled. Her black hair slipped behind her hair, sticking onto her neck. "Well, at least we finished the mission."

"I'm sorry." Percy's voice was like a ghost, barely audible.

Rena blinked and stared. "Why?"

"I didn't help you."

"Didn't or couldn't?"

Percy bit his lower lip. "I could have done something. But I didn't."

"You're lying." Rena turned away. "There was nothing you could have done, to change what will happen to me." She breathed in and out; her normally quiet breaths seemed so loud now. "And you shouldn't cry." She smiled again to Percy. "Because I didn't do what I did so you could cry. I didn't do it because I needed to do it. I didn't do it because you needed me to do it. I sacrificed myself because I wanted to do it." Percy locked eyes with Rena her smile vanished. "I sacrificed myself because I wanted to save you, it was my wish not my duty."

"Why?" Percy asked, he didn't want her to die, he would have…

"Because you would have done the same." She smiled. "I saved you because I love you and I believe that only you are capable of saving humanity. Don't let me down."

I hope I got that last part done well! There were some things I mentioned briefly that I'll get into detail later on.

NOTICE how the name is Rena and not Reyna, this is important because I'm not including any Heroes of Olympus characters in this story. Why? I don't like it. But I was REALLY tempted to use Reyna, the thing is that that means I'll have to deal with the whole roman camp thing, and I don't wanna.

Also people might be all like "Oh! Leyna!" or whatever Leo x Reyna is. "It's so great, because they totally had, like, awesome interactions! Like Nico and Thalia who I'm pretty sure didn't even share a single sentence together!" INTERACTION, INTERACTION, INTERACTION!