A/N: Finally, a more suitable laptop for my size. Well, here's chapter 32. There's nothing else to be said.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, FF and DmC
Chapter 32
Artemis' POV
Artemis had been worried sick when Percy suddenly turned into a bloodthirsty demon and threatened to kill them all. She was afraid that Percy might actually do it, but fortunately, he didn't. Unfortunately, he made himself unconscious at the process. So, all and all, Artemis was still worried sick.
Artemis is now taking care of Percy, wiping his forehead with cool cloth. He'd been sweating and frowning when he's been unconscious. Either Percy isn't feeling comfortable, or he's having a terrible nightmare.
Alia wanted to take care of Percy and let Artemis rest, but Artemis wasn't going to leave Percy's side. He needed her, and she needed him.
"Come on Artemis, you have been awake for almost three hours." Alia said.
"So? I'm not leaving his side." Artemis said sternly. No matter how much Alia, Piper, Reyna, Thalia and Rachel persuaded her, she was still staying by Percy's side. Maybe some of Percy's stubbornness had rubbed on Artemis. Artemis continued to take care of Percy, comforting him as much as possible.
In his sleep, Percy's expression kept changing from frown to rage. Artemis didn't know what he was dreaming about, but she was sure it wasn't pleasant. She cupped her hand on his cheek. "Percy . . . I'm here." Artemis said with a soothing voice. That seemed to calm Percy a bit, as his expression softened.
Artemis kissed his forehead and whispered, "Please wake up, Percy. I need you."
Percy's POV
"Please wake up, Percy. I need you." Percy heard Artemis voice saying. Percy wished he could wake up right now, hug her and kiss her. Unfortunately, he's stuck in his subconscious, battling this stupid demon. The demon was like the demon earlier that he saw in Moros' vision. It was very strong, stronger than Percy. It didn't need a sword to face him, because he had thick scales and huge, sharp claws that could rip his flesh apart barehanded.
Percy felt his spirits lighten up a bit when he heard Artemis' voice and his body felt a bit warm. It was the kind of comfort that Artemis usually made him felt.
"Having some problem?" The demon said again. Its voice was rough as sandpaper. It was like the kind of voice that frightens you whenever you hear it in the dark.
"Yeah, problems with you." Percy growled and attacked again. The demon smirked. He sidestepped, making Percy bypassed him easily. This demon is really annoying. Percy tried slashing at him, but the demon parried the sword with his bare hands.
"You're weak, Perseus Jackson. You rely too much on your powers, and not your physical abilities in combat. The only reason you are good in hand to hand combat is because of Moros' blessing. Now that I have taken away everything special about you, you are nothing but a worm." The demon said angrily.
He was right. Percy had relied too much on his powers to save him. Moros' blessing, his powers as a son of Poseidon and Moros' combat abilities. Now that the demon had stripped away his powers, he had nothing except his experience in combat and his sword. Percy found out that he was absolutely pathetic without his powers. "So? What if you've taken my powers? I will still beat you and wake up." Percy growled.
"Words will not help you win, weakling." The demon grinned as he flashed his flaming red eyes.
"Then enough talk." Percy said. He ran again towards the demon at his normal pace and confronted the demon. He feigned a slash and tried swipe its feet, but the demon anticipated the move. It grabbed Percy's sword and yanked it out of his hand. The demon delivered a hard punch straight to his chest. Percy choked and fell to his knees. He coughed out blood and his chest was hurting like hell. Without his hard body, the punch felt like a ten ton hammer slamming onto his chest, knocking out all the air in him.
"You see how weak you are?" The demon towered over him. Percy spat out some more blood from his mouth.
"Yeah, now I know how weak I am. But I've been looking for a challenge, and now I found one." Percy smirked. The demon had a look of confusion on its face.
"Are you ready to-" The demon was cut off with a right cross from Percy, who had recovered quickly from his injury. The demon staggered as Percy's fist landed on his face. It looked stunned and surprised, but the demon immediately grinned. "Perhaps, you're not so much of a weakling as I thought."
"The demigod years had helped me a lot." Percy said. He was used to brawling with his fist. Since he was first in Camp Half-Blood, he had gotten into brawls with the Ares kids far more that he could count. When he discovered Camp Jupiter, the number of brawls he had had increased.
"Very well then, perhaps you-" He was again cut off with another fist landing on his face. Percy decided to rely on his guts and hand to hand combat for now, just to prove the demon was wrong.
"Sorry, all is fair in battle. You should-" This time, Percy was cut off with a strong kick to the stomach. Percy flew a few meters back and landed hard on his back. Percy groaned and got up. "You mean business, huh?"
"Enough talk. Let's just end this." The demon said. The demon and Percy charged at each other at the same time, unarmed and seeing on who will be the last man standing.
Nico's POV
"Nico, we need to move now!" Thalia protested.
"We can't! Most of our friends are injured, including Percy. He's the one in charge."
"But he needs our help! How is he supposed to help us when he needs our help?"
Nico couldn't find an answer to that.
Nico and Jason had called a brief meeting. Every showed up, except for Artemis who wanted to stay by Percy's side and Michael who had a broken leg with Alia taking care of him. Thalia had suggested that they should move from their current location, because the gods already knew they were here. Plus, Nyx also knew, which means they have to stay alert on two sides. Nico thought this was a bad idea, considering how long it would take them to find another spot and how long it would take them to pack. By the time they had done so, they would probably be ambushed on the way to their new location.
"You know Thalia, Nico's got a point. What if the gods ambushed us? Besides, Percy and Michael are injured. Michael is in no condition of walking, and Percy is still unconscious."
"Then we just move one at a time. Part of the army stays here an take care of the injure ones, while another part goes and move the base."
"I'd have to agree with Thalia." Rachel said. "It's dangerous if the gods know that we're here. They could plan on another surprise attack, and catch all of us off guard."
Nico glanced back between Thalia and Jason. He knew he had to make a decision and Jason too. They looked up to Nico and Jason as their second in commands next to Percy. "Well, I don't know. Both ideas seemed pretty good and bad at the same time. It's just that-"
"Why don't we attack and head straight for Olympus?" Reyna said suddenly. Everyone turned their attention at her. She had a blank expression and studied the apple on her hand, as if to see which way is the best to kill someone with it.
"What?" Rachel asked, breaking the silence.
"We head straight for Olympus. They won't see it coming and they won't expect it. Muster everything we have, march towards Olympus and blow Jupiter away from the throne and straight to Tartarus." Reyna said with a blank expression. She said it with so much confidence that Nico almost believed it would work.
Almost.
"How?" Was all Nico asked to get their attention.
"What do you mean?" Thalia asked.
"The entrance to Olympus is guarded by the doorman. Although he may not be much, I'm sure he'll be informed about us. He could send some kind of signal to Zeus that we're close. We can't go from the air, as it will be six hundred floors before we reach Olympus." Nico said. "On top of that, they might sense us the moment we reach Manhattan. An army of Greek and Roman demigods including the hunters will also attract a lot of monsters. It would be impossible to get close."
"I was also thinking that." Piper said.
"What if we scatter?" Rachel said. This time, she had all the attention. "We'll enter Manhattan in small groups. Then, even if the Olympus army managed to somehow sense us when we arrived at Manhattan, they would also have to scatter to find all of us. We can take them in small groups, and survive. If we managed to beat them in small groups, we go back into hiding and catch our breaths. We could do this until we reduce them to a little army."
"I don't think that would work. Athena would suspect something if we do the same tactic over and over again." Nico stated out, remembering Athena's wisdom and specialty in tactics.
"So? Any ideas?" Thalia asked.
No one spoke up . . . At least, that's what Nico thought.
"The Labyrinth." A voice said from the entrance of the tent. They all turned around and saw Michael on crutches with Alia helping him. "Use the Labyrinth to get to the Empire State Building undetected. It has an entrance there, I know it."
"Wait, how do you know?" Jason asked.
"I've been there." Alia helped Michael sat down on a chair near Nico. "The gods can't detect us when we're in the Labyrinth, believe me."
"But Percy said that he and his friends had once visited by Hera when they were in the Labyrinth." Thalia pointed out.
"That was when Daedalus was still tied to it. Now, the Labyrinth is living on its own. The gods can't detect whatever is in there." Michael said. Everyone had a deep expression on their faces, thinking if this could work.
"It would work. If we managed to sneak into the Empire State Building undetected, then we have chance of winning and defeating them in a surprise attack." Rachel said.
"There's some downside to this plan, unfortunately." Michael said. Everyone kept their gaze on him. "Like the gods, we also don't know what's down there, what kind of monsters and how many. I didn't want to bring this plan up to anyone, but it seems like we have no other choice." He said.
"You're right. But you forgot one thing," Rachel stood up. "You have a clear sighted mortal with you." She said while grinning. Nico also grinned.
"This might just work." Jason muttered.
"But what about Percy and Michael and the rest of the wounded?" Alia pointed out.
"We leave a small part of the army here, like five or six people to do the packing. The rest will travel with us in the Labyrinth and march straight towards Olympus." Nico explained.
The others muttered and murmured in agreement to this plan. "So, do we have a plan?" Nico asked. They all nodded. "Well, I'd better tell everyone."
Annabeth's POV
Annabeth couldn't believe how strong and powerful Percy was. She had been invisible the whole time that the Olympus army went to war with Percy. Nyx's interference was unexpected. Now, Annabeth had to change every battle strategy that she had, because she was afraid that Nyx might interfere during their war with Percy. Annabeth still couldn't believe that a primordial had taken interest in Percy, but Annabeth didn't want to find out how.
Annabeth was finishing a status report about the army with Zeus. Zeus just nodded. "Thank you, Annabeth. You can carry on with your duties." Thirteen Olympians were there. At first, Annabeth wasn't used to this amount of power, but after a while she had gotten used to it. The only ones missing were Hera and Aphrodite. They had been talking to each other a lot recently, which made Annabeth, wonder what they're talking about.
"Um, Lord Zeus. May I ask where Lady Hera might be? I have something to discus with her. This is an urgent matter." Annabeth said. Though, Annabeth didn't mention the real reason he wanted to talk to Hera.
"Alright then. Hermes, summon Hera here. Tell her that it is an urgent matter." Zeus said. Hermes nodded and flashed away. A minute later, two flashes erupted in the middle of the throne room. Hera and Hermes appeared after the flash of light died down.
"You summon me, my husband?" Hera asked.
"My dear, Annabeth has some urgent matters to discuss with you." Zeus said. Hera turned towards Annabeth.
"Lady Hera, I wish to speak to you in private."
"Sure, Annabeth." Hera flashed them away into her garden. "Is there something wrong?"
"Well, I'm just curious. You and Aphrodite have been spending a lot of time together, and I was just wondering if . . ."
"Oh, Annabeth." Hera's face looked sad. "You shouldn't ask these kind of things when you're under so much stress."
"No, Hera. I need to know."
"I'm not sure if you're ready for the answer. Are you sure you can handle this? This concerns Percy and Artemis." Hera asked. Annabeth took a deep breath before nodding. She wanted to know, especially if it concerns Percy.
"I'm ready."
"Artemis, she's pregnant with Percy's child." Hera said with sadness.
Annabeth felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. "N-no . . . It can't be . . ."
"I sensed it when Aphrodite said they had, um, an affair. Artemis is pregnant with Percy's child."
Annabeth broke down into tears and let out sobs. Hera pulled her into a comforting hug, but it wasn't enough. Annabeth now knew that the man she loved is now becoming a father to another woman's child. "It's okay, child. Just cry, let it all out." Hera said as she rubbed Annabeth's back comfortingly. Then, Aphrodite flashed next to them.
"Did you tell her?" Aphrodite asked. Hera nodded. Aphrodite sat next to her. Annabeth didn't have anything against Aphrodite, but they weren't very close. They just, sort of knew each other and that's it, but at the moment, Aphrodite was like her closest friend. "Its okay, Annabeth. These things happen to everyone, including for a smart girl like you." Aphrodite hugged her. The smell of various perfumes entered Annabeth's nose, but that didn't matter to her.
"How could he do this?" Annabeth managed between sobs. Annabeth leaned on Aphrodite as Hera rubbed her back.
"Love is powerful force, Annabeth. Even though I'm the goddess of love, I can't make someone fall in love, nor can I make someone lost their love. I can only add the twists and turns." Aphrodite said. "I have controlled your love with Percy, but when Percy didn't love you anymore, I can't do anything."
That made Annabeth cries even louder. "A child . . . He's having a child . . ."
"Maybe you can still be friends with Percy. You know how Percy is, don't you? He's quite forgiving when it comes to his close friends." Hera said with a reassuring smile.
"I want it . . . I want to have a child with him . . . I want to be the one who carries his child." Annabeth said miserably, knowing that her dream would only just be a dream.
"Annabeth, learn to let go. That's how I felt whenever Zeus had an affair with a mortal. I learned that letting go and forgiving would be a lot less painful than holding on and dwelling on it for the rest of your life." Hera said to her.
"It's true. All of us goddesses that are married have learned to let go whenever our husbands had another affair. It won't be pleasant, but it would hurt a lot less rather than holding on it." Aphrodite added.
"B-but, I can't just forget about him."
"It would take some time. If you can, have a talk with him. It would help you ease the pain." Hera said.
Annabeth just nodded as she wiped away her tears. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying. Before she knew it, she fell asleep in Hera's embrace.
Percy's POV
Percy was on the ground, blood was dripping from his mouth and knuckles. The demon had managed to do a lot of damage on him. A bloody knuckle and a few broken ribs. He was panting hard as he tried to stand up, but failed.
The demon in front of him was kneeling. Percy managed to land a few punches at him, but he was a stubborn bitch. "Have had enough?" The demon taunted.
Percy laughed slightly as he managed to stand up. "I'm just getting warmed up." Percy felt his knuckles turning to jelly. He couldn't punch anymore, so he had to use strategy. His sword was now behind him, after the demon had yanked it out of his hand.
"Very well then. One final blow, to end this." The demon struggled to get up on his feet. It looked just as weak as Percy was. "You know, I forgot to mention this. When you beat me, you don't get your powers back. You won't have any powers over the water or any kind of Moros' shits."
"So? I've learned a lesson here, demon. Not to rely on your powers, but on your spirit of fighting."
"Well said, Perseus." The demon said. With one, last roar, the demon charged at Percy, full speed. Percy just smirked. He collapsed and fell to his back. The sword was just within reach. When the demon got close, Percy grabbed the sword and stabbed it. The sword went through the demon and its eyes widened in realization. Percy smirked as he stabbed the sword deeper into its body.
"I've also learned a long time ago, not to rely on your strength entirely." Percy said.
To his surprise, the demon grinned. "I have found a host worthy of my power. Thank you, Perseus." Then, Percy blacked out into unconsciousness.
Line Break
Percy was back at a familiar sight of a fancy dining room, and the sight of a familiar person, or should he say, deity. "Lord Chaos?"
"How many times have I told you not to call me 'Lord'?" Chaos said with exasperation.
"Sorry, I forgot."
"It's okay. So, I see you knew about angels and demons now?" Chaos asked. Percy paled a bit.
"Your grandson told me about it." Percy said, hoping Chaos would buy it.
"I know. Percy, you are the first demigod that have ever been possessed by a demon and is still sane and didn't turn into a bloodthirsty savage." Chaos said.
"Gee, I am so grateful." Percy said sarcastically.
"You know, what the demon said was true. You have lost all of your powers when you defeated the demon. Moros' blessing over you and your power over water is now gone."
"It's okay. I learned the hard way that I shouldn't rely too much on my powers. It involved a few broken ribs and a cracked knuckle." Percy said.
"Your sarcasm amuses me, Perseus." Chaos said with a smile.
"Glad to know."
"There's one more thing you should know, Perseus."
"Which is?"
"Every godly blood that runs in your veins is now gone, replaced with the blood of a demon." Chaos said. Percy still didn't understand.
"So?"
"You are dense. You are not a demigod anymore, Perseus. You're half human, half demon."
"So, what am I? A demi-demon?" Percy asked. Chaos just laughed.
"I don't know, but I assure you that you will be an interesting subject." Chaos said it like Percy was a guinea pig. That brought back bad memories.
"I always liked to be the test subject."
"Again, you amuse me. For now, your subconscious will stay here to train and recuperate. When you're ready, you will wake up again and help your friends."
Percy sighed. More training, just what he needed. As if his body is not tired.
"Okay, when do we start?"
A/N: I know I promised that I'd put some FF over here, but I need time. The FF is not very relevant on what I wanted to tell you guys in this chapter. Anyway, leave a review if you like or hate it. A review always helps. Until then take care. Thank you for 400 reviews, I appreciate it. I also appreciate the support that you guys had given me. All I can say is thank you. And the fanfic is nearing its end. There will be a sequel, hopefully. Well, promote the story if you can. Love you guys in a brotherly sisterly way.