Six Months Later
Goode High School
"Yeah, I get it Bianca. I miss him too. Look on the bright side though, he should be coming home sometime soon." Percy told his future sister-in-law.
"You've been telling me that since the day he left Percy. You don't have to try to cheer me up every time you call or see me. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself." Bianca casually replied.
"I know that Bianca, but you're family in more than the literal sense of the word. I look out for my family." Percy told her bluntly.
"Speaking of family, how is it going with the Olympians? You've been keeping yourself so busy the past half of the year, that we hardly ever do see you." Bianca told him.
"I know Bianca. I've just been preparing for all of the fighting that is about to start happening again. So far, most of the Olympians are supporting me. The only two exceptions would be Zeus and Hermes." Percy answered.
"Hermes? Why is Hermes giving you trouble?" Bianca asked him.
"You know. The whole 'I am going to have to kill your son' thing." Percy responded sarcastically.
"We didn't forget about that. Things have been rather….hectic at Camp Half-Blood lately. The Hephaestus Cabin has been making weapons and armor around the clock. The armory is damn near at full capacity. Everyone is getting ready for the war that you told us is about to take place and it has been highly irritating." Bianca explained to him. Percy let out a quick chuckle.
"Sorry about that Bianca. Camp Half-Blood is also my home and I don't want it to get destroyed in this war. It was better that I gave everybody the warning, so there would be less destruction and casualties on our side. How has everyone been anyway?" Percy asked her.
"Grover is off in the Everglades somewhere trying to restore more of the nature. Pan passed away a few weeks ago, so now Grover has been doing his thing as the new Lord of the Wild." Bianca told him.
"Yeah. He used the Empathy Link to reach out to me and tell me about it. I believe I was the first one that he told on account that I wasn't there to here it personally." Percy guessed.
"Annabeth and Thalia have been coordinating with the Satyrs and helping to bring as many newly discovered demigods as possible to Camp Half-Blood. It is sad to see how many young demigods there are out there, being thrust into this war as soon as they are beginning to learn about themselves. It's just wrong." Bianca commented.
"We'll get all of that taken care of after this war is finished Bianca. I promise you that Cyrus and I will make sure that the Olympians do at least that much. This is the war to save them after all." Percy told her.
"I know Percy. That just leaves Nico and I. I've been helping the new campers settle into the camp while practicing my archery 3 times a week for the past 6 months. I've gotten quite better at it. Nico has been going down to the Underworld frequently to get trained by our father. He has been careful about it though so nobody figures out who our godly parent is." Bianca told Percy.
"He's becoming a fine warrior then. I've got to go now though Bianca. Orientation is about to start soon and I can't be late for it." Percy explained to her.
"I understand Percy. Have fun at high school." Bianca told him supportively. With his left hand, Percy cut through the mist of the Iris message that he was using to contact Bianca. He would've used a cellphone, but those were bad things for demigods to be using. It attracted monsters to their location like a signal flare. One day he was going to do something about that, but for now he had to get through a simple orientation with 2 empousai cheerleaders.
"This isn't going to be difficult at all." Percy thought to himself. He headed towards the front entrance of the high school where Rachel was undoubtedly looking around for him.
Tartarus
Cyrus stood up from a boulder that he was sitting on. In the past 48 hours, he had been rather bored. It seemed as if all of the monsters who inhabited Tartarus and its dark depths learned to keep away from his location. That wasn't the only thing that changed either. No. That was far from the last thing that changed. We'll start with his appearance for now.
The hair of his that he usually kept low cut was now long enough to reach his waist and his beard was much more wilder and unrulier than Dionysus' own beard was. He had also grown half a foot in size and his muscles were much more defined than before. His feet even grew from a size 10 in men to a size 13 in men. If anything, Tartarus served as an accelerant for Cyrus' physical growth.
His aura though, that was probably what changed the most though. Before his training in Tartarus began, Cyrus had this aura that drew people in and made them happy. No matter what they were going through or who they were, they were just instantly happy. Now though, you couldn't even feel Cyrus' aura. Almost as if being in Tartarus for six months straight sucked his aura right out of him. Or, to put it even more simply, it was as if Tartarus was trying to reform Cyrus in its own image. However, the training wasn't without perks.
Now that Cyrus had conquered the environment he was in, he could no longer feel any strain from using his powers. It just came second nature to him to use them without even thinking about it. For instance, he managed to increase the area of how far his manipulation of gravity could stretch out. At first, it was a few feet away from his body. Now he could easily subdue every creature in Tartarus with it at once. He also managed to fine tune his elemental powers and his time manipulation powers as well.
"How do you feel?" Chaos asked his youngest demigod son.
"Like it has been far too long since I last seen my girlfriend." Cyrus answered back brusquely.
"I know that you are eager to see Miss di Angelo and your brother again Cyrus, but we cannot truly call this training complete if you don't tell me how you truly feel." Chaos told his son with a smirk.
"I feel...I feel...I don't know how I feel. I can feel all of this power at my disposal, but I don't understand what it is for. I don't understand what I am doing any of this for. So Dad, you tell me. You tell me what I endured six months of this hellish training for." Cyrus told his father bluntly. Chaos walked over to Cyrus and warmly put a hand on his son's shoulder.
"You already know what you do it for Cyrus. You simply….forgot what it was, because this training that I have put you through pushed your mental and physical capabilities to their utmost limit. You do the things you do, kill the monsters you kill, to ensure that there is a world where monsters don't exist. A world where demigods aren't targeted every five seconds. A world that you and Miss di Angelo can raise a family in." Chaos explained to his son.
Deep down, Cyrus knew that his father was right. He just stubbornly couldn't believe it, since he hadn't seen Bianca in a long time. He wanted to see her olive-colored skin. He wanted to see the way her freckles were spread across her face. He wanted to see her black-colored irises again. Most of all, he wanted to hold her in his arms again and to tell her that he was never leaving her behind again. Only then would he believe in the words that his father just spoke.
"It's time for you to go back home Cyrus. You just need to choose which home you are going back to." Chaos cryptically told Cyrus.
"I only have one home though. What are you talking about Dad?" Cyrus asked his father with confusion ringing in his voice.
"You believe you only have one home. If my memory is correct, you were offered another place to call home." Chaos answered. The pieces clicked together for Cyrus immediately after the clue his father provided.
"You're talking about Miss Jackson's offer to stay with her and Percy?" Cyrus asked. Chaos nodded at his son and opened two portals behind himself.
"The portal on my right, or your left, leads back to the house that I moved Sally into after she turned Gabe Ugliano into stone. It is a very spacious house in Queens, you know? A nicely furnished basement that one could potentially turn into a room, a huge backyard in case either of you are interested in getting a dog and more than enough rooms for, say: girlfriends and friends. That's if Sally allows it though." Chaos stated. He easily made it sound like a commercial.
"Why does everyone want me there?" Cyrus asked his father.
"You should know why your brother and I want you there so badly Cyrus. When your brother was brought to this timeline by myself, he had to leave behind a brother. A blood-related brother whose name was Tyson, quite the curious cyclops. He was nearly devastated about that until he met you and he suddenly had a little brother again. He doesn't want to lose another brother, just as I didn't want to see my son homeless on the streets." Chaos explained to Cyrus.
"The first day you had ever had a conversation with me. Right after I had gotten attacked by a pair of drakons in Colorado. You told me that I had a brother and that I would meet him soon. The only problem was that I had to fend for myself from Denver all the way to Missouri as I made my way to him." Cyrus reminisced out loud.
"Exactly. I blew those drakons up without a second thought. I saw that you were in danger and your powers wouldn't have activated in time to save you, so I did what any good parent would do: protect their child. I, would also like for you to get to know the woman that stole my heart. Sally is one of the most caring and compassionate humans I've ever met in my life. In Percy's original timeline, before Tyson found out he was Percy's half-brother and vice versa, she was fully prepared to call social services for Tyson's sake." Chaos told Cyrus.
"Social services? For what? Was his mother beating him?" Cyrus asked.
"No. Nothing as human as that. His mother was a nymph, so never around. Much like his father: Poseidon. Because of that, Tyson was one of the many orphaned Cyclopes that New York City has housed. People kept treating him as a homeless person, while Sally treated him as a human being. Entirely concerned for the safety of a boy only her son knew." Chaos told Cyrus with a half smile.
Cyrus couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was now starting to understand where Percy got his immense kindness from. He also couldn't believe that both brothers that Percy had were homeless at some point in his life. Percy never knew about one brother until high school, while he didn't know about the other one until after he died and went through life again as a Son of Chaos.
"I just still need a little more time to wrap my head around the idea of a permanent, normal home Dad. Can I please go back to Camp Half-Blood now?" Cyrus begged his father. With a chuckle, Chaos pointed to the portal on Cyrus' right.
"That one will take you to Camp Half-Blood. Remember this though Cyrus: be observant of your surroundings. Things are about to become increasingly dangerous now that it is so close to the war coming." Chaos warned.
"I know that Dad. Percy and I will be ready. For now though, I need to go see my girlfriend." Cyrus answered with a smile.
"Run along then. It is rude to keep a lady waiting." Chaos told Cyrus with a smile that mirrored Cyrus'. Cyrus waved goodbye to his father as he ran into the portal that would take him to Camp Half-Blood.
Camp Half-Blood: Cabin Area
He couldn't believe that he was finally going back to the place he called home right now. He definitely couldn't believe it when he arrived outside of his own cabin just to see that a lot of the campers were preparing for war.
"A lot has happened over the months I've been gone." Cyrus thought to himself. He took one last look at the campers preparing before heading into his own cabin, the look of worry spreading on his face.
Camp Half-Blood: Chaos Cabin
"Hello? Anybody home?" Cyrus asked after opening the front door. All that greeted him was the silence that enveloped the cabin. It wasn't dusty at all, which meant that somebody had to be staying in it frequently. He had made his way towards Percy's bedroom first to see if his brother was there, but was disappointed to find out that he wasn't.
"I guess the next place to check would be the spare upstairs bedrooms, since the kitchen and living room are completely empty." Cyrus thought logically. He found himself standing in front of the spare bit of wall on the left side of where the tv was mounted and pushed the wall. It sunk into the floor, revealing the stairs that led to the other bedrooms. He was instantly hit with the smell of Grover's goat legs and figured that Grover was keeping his fake legs in his room, but that was fumigating the entirety of the upstairs floor.
"Seems like no one is here. Might as well grab some food out of the kitchen. I need some real food in my life." Cyrus thought to himself. He had made it to the edge of the last step when a knife came flying towards the empty spot where the wall was about to be again. This put Cyrus' senses on full alert, seeing as how he remembered that he left the door wide open. Anyone could have been attacking.
"WHO'S THERE?!" Cyrus yelled out, making his presence known to the assailant.
"Someone who is giving you three seconds to come out before I go further on the offensive." Thalia's familiar voice rang out.
"Thalia calm down. It's me." Cyrus answered back.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Thalia asked suspiciously.
"Because we're friends." Cyrus answered. He came out from behind the false wall and showed himself to Thalia. Of course, Thalia didn't recognize him at first. It was only after she looked at his eyes that she knew who he was.
"Cyrus? When did you get back?" Thalia asked him. She had sheathed the dagger that she was holding in her hand.
"Just a few moments ago. Where is everybody? What's been happening?" Cyrus asked her. Thalia directed her hand towards the couch and proceeded to sit on it as well. Cyrus quickly sat down since he needed to get to the bottom of things.
"Grover is doing his job as the new Lord of the Wild. He's currently in Florida at Everglades National Park. Nico is in the Underworld receiving sword training from Lord Hades, while Bianca is currently in the middle of showing a recently discovered demigod around camp. That is what she has been doing, while Annabeth and I have been looking for newly discovered demigods these past three months." Thalia explained to him.
"What about Percy?" Cyrus asked her. Thalia just shrugged at Cyrus' question.
"The last time any of us have seen Percy was a week before Annabeth and I started looking for demigods. He left the day after you started your training. He wanted to make sure that everyone didn't panic like we did when he disappeared. From what Bianca tells me though, he's been working with the Olympians to prepare for this war that we find ourselves in the middle of." Thalia explained even further.
"Does anybody know where he's at right now?" Cyrus asked her.
"I honestly don't think so. It's been a month and a half since we last heard of him." Thalia answered.
"He did mention something about school when he first asked me to move in. What's today's date?" Cyrus asked Thalia.
"It's the 2nd of June." Thalia answered.
"Percy should be at his school orientation right about now. I need to hurry and get ready. Things are really going to start heating up soon." Cyrus muttered to himself out loud.
"What's about to happen Cyrus?" Thalia asked him. He stood up from his seat and headed towards the stairs behind the fake wall. At the last possible second, he turned around to face Thalia.
"The entrance to the Labyrinth is about to come into play. Everybody is going to be busier than they already are." Cyrus answered gravely.
Goode High School: Music Room
In the time between ending his Iris message with Bianca and heading to the gym with Rachel, Percy and Rachel found themselves hiding in the music room from Kelli and Tammi. He easily could've taken the both of the monsters right then and there, but there were a ton of innocent people in the mix. They needed to lead the two empousa where there was no one else around.
"You know, when I was looking at this school, I didn't expect Greek mythology to come and attack me." Rachel told Percy in a heated whisper.
"Good thing that you didn't plan for two monsters to attend the school you chose. You wouldn't get to see how I take care of them." Percy replied back to her at his normal volume.
"What are you doing? They'll hear you." Rachel told him.
"Yes they will, but they're already here. Your scent drew them here. Thank you for that, by the way." Percy told her jokingly. The two cheerleaders walked into the music room and closed the door behind them.
"Like, come on out and let me kill you." Kelli yelled out to Percy. Percy stood up and waved at both Tammi and Kelli.
"Afternoon empousai. Which one of you is dying first?" Percy asked the two cheerleaders. This did nothing but bring out the rage of the two empousa. Tammi, however, was the only one who was dumb enough to fall for the taunt though. She recklessly and dangerously charged at Percy. Without blinking, Percy manipulated gravity to force Tammi to the ground. She found herself unable to move under the pressure of such gravity.
"I don't know if Kronos or Luke told you this or not, but my brother and I are the Sons of Chaos. Us two alone is more than enough to take out the little army that Luke put together. Also, it was a very bad move to charge at me like that." Percy told Tammi. He didn't really care about Kelli listening to him or not. Taking steps towards Tammi's body, Percy took his pen out of his pocket and transformed it into his sword.
"Any last words before you're sent to oblivion?" Percy asked her softly.
"Go….to….HELL!" Tammi screeched out loud.
"Have it your way then." Percy muttered. Clicking the button on the bottom of his hilt, the purple essence of his father coated the blade of the sword and Percy impaled Tammi right where her left lung should have been. Ever so slowly, the empousa shrieked and turned into dust. Cheerleading uniform and all. That was when Percy turned towards Kelli expectantly.
"I'm not one without mercy Kelli. Do me a favor and I'll let you live until the next time we run into each other." Percy told the remaining empousa.
"Oh yeah. What favor?" Kelli asked him in retort. She was struggling with coming up with a way to escape, but here he was just offering one.
"Send a message to Luke for me." Percy answered.
"What message?" Kelli asked suspiciously. Percy took a few steps towards Kelli and stopped by a nearby set of timpani drums. He even took the time to turn his sword back into a pen, so he could place it back into his pocket.
"I'm coming for you and your master. I'm going to destroy you both for trying to destroy the place that I call 'home'. The worst part? You'll never see me coming." Percy told her rather coldly and harshly. The look that was in his eyes was enough to thoroughly terrify Kelli as she ran out of the music room like a bat out of hell.
"The battle lines have been drawn and prepared. Now it is the time that we go to war." Percy thought to himself with that same look he had that made Kelli run away.
A/N: Hey guys! I felt bad for making you wait longer than I promised, so I added this chapter and the previous chapter today for you. I wish work didn't take up so much of my time, but I have to pay the bills somehow. Everything should be back on schedule though, so stay tuned for even more chapters. As always, I appreciate those who read this story and offer me constructive criticism. You guys are the best.