Hey guys I'm back. Sorry for the super long delay. I'm hoping that with this chapter I can get back to writing. I've been so busy at work and home that I just have not really had the time to sit down a work on these things. Sorry to the readers who have been wanting for so long for this update.

Two days had passed since Reyna had been taken captive. Percy and Jason had to work together to keep Arthur calm enough to think rationally. Once he was calm, Arthur began to give orders to the other demigods. They gathered what supplies they could and hurried to meet with the members of the two camps who had not been seduced by Sisyphus's magics.

Arthur led the small band of demigods at a gruelling pace to cross the country. The others knew what drove him, but they did not understand why the aura of Mithras did not dissipate from his blood red aura that now surrounded him blazed brightly day and night as Arthur continued his journey towards the army. By noon the second day, Annabeth and Thalia had had enough of not knowing what was going on and they questioned Arthur about it when they stopped for lunch.

"Arthur! Has the curse taken over you completely?" Thalia asked worriedly.

Annabeth just looked him over as if he were a bomb that had yet to detonate, "What can we do to calm you down?"

Arthur turned to look at them and spoke with a voice that sounded metallic and ancient. A voice that clearly did not belong to him, "Calm me down? Oh daughter of the Greeks favored goddess, there is nothing that can truly calm me down. This "demi-human" as the Olympians have named him is the last of my descendants and has had his sanity torn asunder. The only thing that exists in it now, is revenge."

The demigods shivered at the power that came with the voice. It sounded like the voice of one of the gods, but dusty and forgotten. They were unsure what was happening, and so they approached cautiously.

"Revenge?" Jason asked, "What is it he wants revenge for?"

The grin which spread across Arthur's face would have looked out of place normally, but with his eyes radiating blood red power and his features seeming darker the grin only added to the sinister vibe he was putting off.

"Son of Jupiter you dare to ask what my descendant wants revenge for? Your father leading the charge to destroy him could be one reason! Or you could consider how half the Legion he swore his life to fight for has turned their backs on him! Better yet, let's go with the most obvious choice, THE WOMAN HE LOVES HAS BEEN STOLEN BY ONE HE CONSIDERED AN ALLY!" the voice grew steady until it was yelling. The power behind it causing all but Thalia and Sarah to step back.

Piper spoke up from her hiding place behind Jason, "Please, we want to help Arthur. Maybe if you told us who you are, then we could do that better."

The voice laughed darkly, "Leave it to the spawn of Venus to try to calm the situation down. I will tell you who I am if you promise to keep the Romans from killing me when they discover the truth."

Annabeth spoke this time, "We would protect Arthur with our lives if necessary. No matter what his heritage."

Whatever was possessing Arthur turned to look at Annabeth, "You, the child who destroyed my last temple, the temple which guarded your mother's greatest statue, would do this?"

Annabeth nodded. This seemed to impress whatever had taken over Arthur as he sighed and released the tension in his shoulders. He motioned for the demigods to sit on the ground as he took a seat himself.

"I am the long forgotten god, Mithras."

Most of the demigods gasped when he said this. Mithras took note of those who had not, figuring they were closer to Arthur than the others and he had told them. He continued to tell his story to the demigods. How Arthur was the last of his kin, and carried the last of his final curse against Rome.

"All I wanted was to be included. When the legionnaires began to worship me in the cult fashion they did, I did not want to usurp anyone's position in Rome. I just wanted a place to call my own. A family, if you will. However, Jupiter in all of his paranoia saw me as an upstart who wanted to cause anarchy and create an imbalance of power. Something he probably figured I would take advantage of. This is why the demigods went forth to kill any of my followers or descendants. As I began to fade, I took the last of my aura and cursed those of my descendants who escaped Olympus's wrath. They were to live in hiding and when the time was right, strike out against those who denied them a place to call home."

Thalia spoke up, "Arthur told us he did research on his ancestors. He said that one of your descendants was the barbarian chieftain who led the final charge which caused the ancient roman empire to fall. Is that true?"

Mithras nodded, "There was a way to lift the curse though. It was not meant to last forever. All that had to happen was for my descendants to find peace and a family amongst the Roman demigods. Seeing as how I emerge during Rome's rule, I had no idea that Greek demigods had survived. None had achieved it until this young man sitting in front of you."

Mithras turned his gaze onto Thalia and Sarah, "I owe your mistress a great deal of thanks. She set this boy onto the path of redemption."

"What would happen if the curse was lifted?" Percy asked.

"Then my essence would leave them, causing me to fade completely, and my descendants to live a relatively peaceful life. They would not feel my anger forcing them into rages or furies anymore. They would keep all the standard abilities a demigod is gifted with, but those that were especially from me would no longer exist."

Sarah scooted closer to Mithras/Arthur and placed her head on his shoulder, "You would give up everything to make my big brother happy?"

Mithras scooped the little girl into his arms, causing her to squeal, "Why couldn't the gods be more like you! Such caring and love. To answer your question little one, yes I would."

"Does that mean Arthur's eyes won't be silver fire when he is set to protect us anymore?"

Mithras nodded.

Suddenly Sarah's eyes widened and started to tear up, "You can't do that!"

Everyone was taken aback by the little girl's response, even Thalia. Tears began to flow freely down her cheeks as she gripped Arthur/Mithras's arm tighter. No one knew what to do or say, when finally, Sarah continued to speak.

"If that goes away, how will Arthur save us? He always gets stronger when his eyes become silver fire, and no matter what he is up against he wins. We know we will be safe when we see the silver fire. All of us younger girls in the Hunt know that if anything gets to be too bad that we just have to look for it and then we will be safe," Sarah was sobbing uncontrollably at this point.

Thalia placed her hand on the young huntresses shoulder and tried to comfort her. Sarah refused to let go though. She cried harder and harder, until she felt the familiar comfort of Arthur's hand rubbing her back. She looked up, expecting to see Arthur's silver eyes, but met Mithras's blood red ones instead.

"My dear, when he pushes himself that hard, Arthur comes close to death. By removing that ability, it would save your big brother's life," the god said softly. The voice sounded more like Arthur's towards the end.

"Why don't you ask my brother what he wants then?" Sarah questioned the nearly faded god.

Mithras went silent at that. He closed Arthur's eyes and the other demigods watched as Arthur's eyes danced to and fro behind his eyelids. None knew what was occurring and all were worried about their friend in this situation. After several minutes of no change, Percy suggested they get lunch while Mithras and Arthur had their discussion. All agreed, except Sarah. She sat herself in front of Arthur and waited to hear the answer. Anyone looking on would think that Arthur was teaching the young girl to meditate.

"How long do you think this will take?" Jason asked.

The others shrugged.

"It could be minutes, it could be days," Annabeth answered, "No one knows with the gods."

Percy took a bite out of the sandwich he was eating, "Wise Girl's right. Plus this is an almost faded god, so it could take longer due to lack of power."

Jason frowned and adjusted his glasses, "I understand that, but we don't have that kind of time. Sisyphus gave us a week. Well more so gave Arthur a week, before he starts whatever his plan will be. We have to save Reyna and New Rome before he destroys or corrupts them!"

Piper patted his arm, "You're right Jason, but what can we do? The prophecy says that Arthur will be the deciding figure in the battle. He will need to be there."

"The prophecy says that the gods have to turn to Arthur or their legacy will burn," Annabeth corrects, "That could simply mean he knows of a way to keep their legacy from burning. The Fates are funny that way."

Jason groans, "Don't you think that we've done enough for the gods to get them to allow us to defy fate just this once?"

As Jason said that three peals of thunder rolled in the distance.

"Uh bro, I wouldn't say things like that out loud. They may be old ladies, but they can hear pretty well," Percy suggested.

"But…" Jason started, but was cut off by his sister.

"No Jason. We cannot defy what the Fates have woven. However, we do not know for certain what they wove," Thalia's voice held no nonsense in it, "I also agree we must do what we can to save Reyna and New Rome. Both are just as important as Arthur is."

"You sound like you got a plan Air Freshener," Percy said.

Thalia nodded, "I do you overgrown Sea Cucumber. You all go on without Sarah and I. I'll contact the Hunt and get them to meet us here. When Arthur has woken up and we know what's up we will join you."

"What if we have left the encampment and engaged the enemy in New Rome?" Piper asked.

Thalia grinned cockly, "Then save me some monsters and bad guys Beautiful, cause we'll be backing you up."

Jason frowned, "I don't like it. We shouldn't split our forces like that."

"Ask the daughter of the Goddess of Battle Strategy if it is a good plan then," Percy said. He smiled at Annabeth, who blushed a little at the comment.

She kissed Percy on the top of his head before saying, "It is a better plan than sitting and waiting. If we strike in the three days it would even have an element of surprise. Sisyphus would be expecting Arthur to gather his forces and arrive at the gates of New Rome tomorrow at the earliest. However, he may also figure that Arthur may take the deal to save Reyna from him and get back at those who hate him. If that's the case he will expect Arthur to fight himself over it until the last day and show up then."

"So by striking in three days we will be in between those two eventualities and he won't be expecting it," Piper finished.

Everyone stared at Piper in shock. She blushed crimson before saying, "What? I've been reading books Annabeth suggested for me to understand battle better. I was trying to improve the Aphrodite cabin's performance in Capture the Flag."

Annabeth beamed, "That is precisely my plan."

Jason thought it over for a moment, "It does seem like a sound strategy. It should work to our advantage as well, if we keep the Hunt as a sort of reserve."

"We will have to run it by Frank and Chiron, but it should work," Annabeth added.

The demigods looked at each other, satisfied with their plan. Thalia went off to call the Hunt together in support of their brother. The others finished up their lunches, offering some up to Sarah. She took a couple sandwiches after her stomach growled loudly and ferocious enough to scare off a drakon.

Thalia waved the others off and they began to make their way to meet up with the demigod army. Based on the last Iris Message, they would encounter them after traveling for a few hours. Luckily, Arthur had hooked them up with a vehicle so it would not take long to travel across country. The ride was silent as the demigods started drifting off to sleep, Percy at the wheel of the van. Suddenly, the silence was broken.

"Pull over here Percy," Arthur said.

His voice shocked the other demigods in the van and they all turned to look at him, Percy included. When Percy looked, the van swerved off the road, hitting the rumble strips and almost steering into a nearby field. Luckily, Annabeth was able to gain her senses quickly and jerked the wheel back to put the van on the road again.

"Eyes on the road Percy!" she yelled.

"Sorry," Percy responded as he glanced in the rearview mirror to look at Arthur, "Why do you want me to pull over?"

Arthur sighed, "I like your guys plan, but we will need more information. Let me out here and I will head towards New Rome. You all go gather your forces and I will meet you thirty miles outside of New Rome and Camp Jupiter to finalize our strategy."

"That's suicide!" Piper yelled.

The others in the van agreed with her, adding in that they would not let Arthur give himself up and that they would be able to fight Sisyphus and save Reyna. Arthur listened to what they had to say for a few minutes, then raised his hand to silence everyone.

"Thalia, Sarah, who is the best member of the Hunt as far as stealth and information gathering?" Arthur asked.

They both sat thinking, "Probably you honestly. There's a couple that come close, but you're the only one who can successfully hide from the gods like you do."

"Exactly," Arthur responded, "That means I will be able to sneak in, get a look at their forces, and get out without anyone noticing me. Even if they do see me, they'll have to catch me first. No one in Camp Jupiter has ever been able to keep me from escaping any trap or even been able to catch me when I'm trying."

Percy began to pull the van over to the side of the road, slowly this time. Jason, Piper, and Annabeth could not believe he was agreeing with Arthur and stared at Percy with wide open mouths.

"Guys, he's right. We need to know their setup. While he investigates the situation, we can mobilize the joint demigod forces. We will meet Arthur outside Camp Jupiter in two days time. That is one day before we strike and allows us to prepare as we need to," Percy told them.

"But what about," Jason began.

Percy gave him a look in the mirror and firmly responded, "No. That is our plan. Arthur, I wish you luck. Don't get caught. If we don't see you on the rendezvous day, we will expect the worse and prepare our army accordingly."

Arthur nodded, "I would expect nothing less. If I were to turn against my mother, I would hope all my sisters would each take turns killing me for being a traitor."

Arthur winked at Thalia and Sarah and climbed out of the van. Using his abilities from Artemis, and even enhancing them with his curse, Arthur took off like a bullet across the landscape. The last thing he heard before he left was Annabeth whispering to Percy so the van would not hear, "It really turns me on when you get authoritative like that."

Arthur shook his head as he ran. He needed to keep his mind focused on the task at hand, otherwise he would slip up and that would be a problem for everyone. He could not let Sisyphus sway him against the gods. More importantly, he had to save Reyna. On top of that, Arthur was worried about what kind of surprises Sisyphus would have waiting on him in New Rome.

It's about to go down. The final fight is approaching. I hope you guys liked this. Sorry if anyone seemed OOC at any point, I'm dusting off my writing notebooks to get back into this. See you guys next time.