Still no reviews, huh? Are you all abandoning me?

Not much plot in this one sadly... but everything Theron has done comes back to bite him in the butt.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO and HOO only the plot from quite a few chapters back all the way to the end of the story :)

Chapter 35 - Captive

"Gaea's army won't die!" Athena exclaimed, "We have tried everything, from scattering the dust to firing it sky high towards the ocean. The monsters keep coming back!"

"Jeez, Athena," Apollo said, "lighten up."

"Do not tell me to 'lighten up', Apollo." Athena snapped, "We are going to lose this war if we don't find a way to kill these stupid monsters."

"Apollo is right, Athena," Hermes said, "relax! If these are our last days why spend them not having any fun? Where is the fun in that?"

"Apollo and Hermes, stop annoying Athena. She needs to concentrate." Hestia said, "Go annoy Zeus if you insist on doing something."

"No thank you," Zeus said, "I'm fine as I am. Go irritate the Titans, I'm sure Oceanus and Iapetus are bored."

"No way!" Hermes shouted, "Last time we did that they attacked us."

"They had good reason to," Hera sniffed, "you are annoying."

Oceanus and Iapetus were watching in amusement as the gods argued back and forth and Athena tried to concentrate on the war map over the noise. She was trying to devise battle plans for them to, but she did not know the numbers of Gaea's army and they kept coming back to life. Until the Doors of Death were closed the Olympians had no chance.

Oceanus sighed and shared a look with Iapetus, the older Titan walked over to Athena. "Move the left flank further to the left, that way they can come around in a scissor movement. The monsters will be surprised if it is quick and effortless."

Athena looked at the Titans with slight surprise, then looked back at the map and realised that Oceanus was right. She quickly moved the flank to the side and Oceanus smiled slightly, "You are a prideful goddess so a simple thank you is beneath you?"

Athena frowned down at the map, "Thank you for the advice." Oceanus and Iapetus sat down in some of the chairs scattered around the raised table.

"You forgot that Iapetus and I have worked alongside our oldest nephew for millions of years. Battle plans are a second nature to us."

"I thought they were our third nature," Iapetus said in amusement, "after our Instincts and actual fighting skills."

"Fine," Oceanus said, "they are a third nature to us."

"Where is Hades?" A voice called and the Titans looked up to see Poseidon striding into the tent.

"I don't know," Zeus said, "I haven't seen him for several hours."

"I thought you wanted a meeting. How can we have one if not everyone is here?" Demeter asked, "Not that I'm against Hades not being here."

Hephaestus stopped fiddling with several pieces of metal in his hands and looked up, "Can't we get started? I need to make one hundred sets of armour by the end of the week – assuming we live that long."

The gods immediately sobered up and Zeus frowned slightly, "I guess we can-"

He was cut off when the shadows in the tent converged on a single point in a vortex of darkness and Hades stepped out. He turned to Hephaestus immediately, ignoring the other gods. "I need a metal pole that is more that sixteen feet tall, but will still fit in this tent and a celestial bronze rope in no more than twenty seconds." Hephaestus nodded and erupted in a column of red flames.

"Hades, why do you need that?" Zeus asked in confusion.

"I had a security breach in the Underworld," the gods of the Dead said smoothly. Hephaestus reappeared holding a massive eighteen feet tall pole with celestial bronze rope over his shoulder.

"Where do you want it, uncle?"

"In the ground," Hades said, "deep enough that it will be nearly impossible for a Titan to remove."

Oceanus raised an eyebrow, "Why that deep?" Hephaestus shrugged and slammed the pole into the ground, making it sink two feet down. Hades then reached into the shadows still swirling in the corner of the tent. He pulled out a limp figure in black and gold armour. Iapetus and Oceanus shot to their feet and Oceanus' chair toppled over.

"What in the name of Tartarus!" Oceanus exclaimed, "What have you done, Hades?"

"He attacked me," Hades defended.

Oceanus gritted his teeth and his hand rested on the sword at his side. "If you have done anything to harm him, then I will not hesitate in ripping your head off clean from your body," the Titan threatened.

Hades nodded and carried the figure over to the pole, leaning him up against it and tying his hands together behind his back with the rope that Hephaestus wordlessly handed him. Oceanus sighed and shook his head as he made his way over to his fellow Titan with Iapetus behind him.

"Hades," Zeus said, "would you care to explain why you just tied someone that obviously Oceanus and Iapetus care about to a metal pole?"

"Because he attacked me," Hades said, "and I found him trying to get to Tartarus through my domain."

"You could have taken his armour off," Iapetus scowled at the god of the Dead, "do you know how uncomfortable armour is when worn for days on end?"

"Shut up and help me, Iapetus," Oceanus said then muttered under his breath, "Primordials know if we leave him like this our brother will have our heads on a pike." His hands moved in sure, practiced movements as he carefully took off the armour of the Titan in front of them. Oceanus had been the Titan that had cared most about him when he was younger, except from his father. After less than two minutes all that needed to be taken off was his helmet. Oceanus hesitated before muttering under his breath. The gods did not hear the reply, but there obviously was one as Oceanus slowly eased off his helmet.

The gods' jaws dropped when they all saw the golden eyes glaring at them. "Hades," Poseidon said warily, "why have you tied Theron up?"

Theron scowled at Hades. "I would like to know that too."

"You attacked me," Hades said, "it's not my fault that you lost."

"I did not attack you," Theron said in annoyance, "I forced your monsters servants to go to sleep. It was you that attacked me."

"And you lost?" Iapetus asked jokingly, "What would your father say?"

"Hades cheated," Theron said bluntly.

"No, I didn't," Hades argued.

Iapetus grinned, "He used everything he had to his advantage."

Theron gave his uncle a withering glare and Iapetus' grin quickly fell. "He cheated," Theron repeated.

"What I want to know is why Theron is tied up," Oceanus said in annoyance as he straightened up and sat down in his chair. "As far as I am aware, he has done nothing wrong."

Hades frowned, "I don't know." The gods gave him incredulous looks. Iapetus shook his head slightly and sat down in his chair beside Oceanus.

"So you tied him up for no reason?" Hestia said in annoyance.

Hades hesitated. "It was like someone was speaking to me."

"So you tied me up for no reason?" Theron asked in annoyance. "I have not done anything to deserve this… well recently anyway."

"Hades, release him," Zeus ordered.

Hades nodded and quickly moved to untie Theron, but Apollo stood up. "Stop," he said.

"Apollo?" Zeus asked in confusion.

"He's lying," Apollo muttered.

Theron frowned in bewilderment. "What have I done?"

Apollo thought for a moment. "Is it anything to do with Olympus?"

"I do not know," Theron shrugged.

"Say yes or no," Apollo said, "then I can tell if you are lying."

"He does not know he is lying," Oceanus muttered.

"How do you know?" Athena asked.

"His eye twitches when he lies," Oceanus said in amusement, "just like his father's does. It is why we call him 'Junior' sometimes."

Theron scowled, "You do not call me that often."

Apollo interrupted their conversation, "Does what you did have anything to do with Olympus?"

Theron sighed and decided to just answer his questions, "Yes."

"I thought you said you didn't know what it is?" Athena said curiously.

"I do not," Theron said as he tried to get comfortable, "but the answer is either going to be yes or no, and I honestly do not know what I have done."

"The two things that he just said were true," Apollo announced.

"Oh, great," Theron muttered and rested his head against the pole behind him.

"Was it within the last year?" Athena asked.

"I have not had my memories returned to me until this last year, have I?" Theron scowled, "So yes."

"How many things have you done?" Demeter asked.

"This is like an interrogation." Theron muttered, "If I do not know what I have done how can you expect me to know how many things I have done?"

Athena leaned forward in her chair, "Think," she pressed him, "I'm sure you will find out."

Theron raked his brain and after almost two minutes he paled slightly. "If I have tried to kill someone several times, does that count as one or the amount of times I have tried to kill them?"

Several of the gods' eyes narrowed and Zeus immediately said, "The amount of times you have tried to kill them."

Theron was silent as he mentally counted up how many times he had tried to kill Percy and Annabeth whilst they were in Tartarus, "Over three things."

"True," Apollo said. "You seem to know what you did. How many things in total have you done since recovering your memories?"

"Does everything I did in the Battle for Manhattan count?" Theron asked warily.

"No," Zeus said, "we know what you did then."

A grin grew on Theron's face, "What about reviving a Titan?"

The gods looked at him incredulously. "What?" Ares spluttered.

"You heard me," Theron smirked.

"No," Zeus said, "it doesn't count, but I would like to know how many Titans are currently alive."

"All of them," Theron said, "every one of us have been waiting out the war in Tartarus for the last few weeks."

"If all of you have been intending to wait out the war then why were you, Koios, Krios, and Kronos here yesterday?" Athena asked.

"Yesterday?" Theron asked curiously, "Oops," he muttered, "no wonder Kronos was annoyed with me."

"Again?" Iapetus asked in amusement.

"I fell asleep!" Theron defended himself.

"How many other things have you done except from trying to kill someone?" Poseidon asked.

"Two or three," Theron shrugged.

"Just one more question," Athena said carefully, "who was it that you tried to kill?"

Theron's grin fell and he averted his eyes to glare at the ground as his jaws clamped together. Oceanus laughed bitterly, "So you did not regret doing it at the time, but now that you have to deal with the consequences you feel sorry?"

"It was not me," Theron defended, "I was-"

"It was you, Theron. No one but yourself can get you to do something."

"I was following my father's orders!"

"Who did you try to kill?" Poseidon asked.

Theron scowled at him, and as he was annoyed with Oceanus he did not think about the recklessness of when he was about to do. His golden eyes seemed to bore straight into Poseidon, "Perseus and Annabeth."

The gods froze and Poseidon and Athena looked at each other. Poseidon was the first to explode, "You what?" He yelled.

"Perseus and Annabeth were the two beings that Kronos ordered me to find," Theron said, "so I did."

"You did more than that, nephew," Oceanus scowled, "why do you not tell them all that you did?"

"What do you mean, Oceanus?" Athena asked warily.

"I am sure you would like to know how he tried to kill them."

"Oceanus," Iapetus muttered, "what are you doing?"

"Theron needs to learn that he has to think for himself," Oceanus said quietly. Iapetus shook his head slightly, but did not argue.

"How did you try?" Athena asked Theron.

Theron looked at her in amusement, "You think I am going to tell you when the outcome will not be beneficial to me?"

Zeus turned to Hermes, "Fetch Perseus and Annabeth for us, son."

Hermes quickly nodded and strode out of the tent to find the two demigods. Theron sighed and leaned his head back against the pole with his legs straight out in front of him as his eyes flickered from one immortal to the next. Ares and Aphrodite had shamelessly continued what they were doing before Hades had dragged him in – they were making out. Most of the gods were watching him warily, now aware that he had tried to kill two of their children. Whenever Theron's gaze landed on Zeus he felt an unparalleled amount of rage enter him and his younger brother was incredibly lucky that the Titan's hands were (literally) tied, as if Theron were able to he would throttle Zeus for what the god had done to him. Theron had a particular hatred for his brothers, the 'Big Three'. Zeus had electrocuted him and cut up his father. Poseidon was unpredictable and refused to listen to orders – he had also overthrown Oceanus despite the Titan of Oceans not fighting in the Titanomachy. Hades was Theron's favourite brother, at least until recent events.

Theron greatly preferred his sisters to his brothers. Even now, all three of them were smiling in his direction. Hera and Demeter did not care that he had tried to kill two demigods. No, he was their eldest brother and no matter how he acted that would not change. From Hestia, however, Theron could sense her disappointment in him and his actions, but she still thought of him as her oldest brother, as he did with his other two sisters.

Hermes entered the tent after several minutes of silence. Theron's ears picked up the sound of voices approaching and he shifted slightly as nine demigods slipped inside the tent and walked until they were in front of the gods.

"Theron!" Percy exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"I was immortal-napped by Hades," Theron said dryly.

"Annabeth, what happened in Tartarus?" Athena asked, "Or, more specifically, how many times did Theron try to kill you?"

Annabeth glanced at Oceanus who nodded, "Go ahead."

Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand and grinned at her reassuringly before turning to look at the gods. "Why do you want to know?"

"So we know what he has done and whether we should release him or not," Poseidon said.

"We all know I am not going to be released," Theron said in amusement, "so stop pretending otherwise."

"Perseus, Annabeth, what did he do to you?" Zeus asked sharply.

Percy looked at Theron with slight regret in his eyes. "He sent some empousai after us and we would've died if Bob hadn't come. He then sent the Arai after us and we once again would've died if Bob wasn't there to help."

"I almost did not help," Iapetus admitted, "that was when my memories completely returned."

"Do not forget Arachne," Oceanus rumbled.

"Arachne," Theron muttered, "lovely monster you created, Athena. She actually has a brain and uses it. But, I did not tell her to attack. Arachne chose to jump at the demigods, and you, Perseus, annoyingly decided to kill her."

"If I didn't kill her then Annabeth would've died!" Percy exclaimed.

"Tartarus is all about Survival of the Fittest, Jackson," Theron said. "Annabeth would not have been able to fight off Arachne had she been alone, and so by all rights Annabeth should be dead."

Percy's hand tightened around Annabeth's and his eyes narrowed. "I thought you wanted to help us, but now I see that Hyperion is right about at least one thing. You are a traitor, Theron."

Theron stiffened, "Jackson, I was just following orders."

"We do not follow your father's orders," Oceanus said.

"And where has that gotten you?" Theron snapped, "The two of you are being hunted down as we speak, and with me here Kronos will soon find you. How do you two like being outcasts?"

"That covers two of the three ways Theron tried to kill you. What was the last one?" Athena asked.

Annabeth glanced at Theron before speaking. "He found Percy, Bob, Small Bob and I at the swamp of Damasen, the giant born to oppose Ares, and started leading us through Tartarus. We had no clue he was leading us into a trap until it was too late."

"A trap?" Poseidon asked, "Set by who?"

"Whom," Athena corrected automatically.

Poseidon shot her an annoyed look, "Not the time, Athena."

Oceanus looked at the gods warily. "A trap set by Kronos, Krios, Koios, Hyperion, and I." Before the angered gods could attack Oceanus quickly continued, "I did the only thing I could in that situation, I went to stop Hyperion from killing them outright as he tried to. If I had not gone, our brothers would have known that something was wrong."

Poseidon nodded slightly and turned to Theron, "You led them straight to Kronos?"

Theron hesitated before nodding, "I did."

"Then when Kronos asked for the vote of whether we should let them go, keep them in the dungeons, or kill them, which did you vote for?" Oceanus asked, "Your vote was the deciding one." Once again, Theron's mouth clamped shut. "I can easily tell the gods myself, nephew. I think it would be better if you say."

"I did not know what to do," Theron said desperately, "I panicked."

Oceanus raised an eyebrow, "You looked plenty calm when you voted."

"Honestly, uncle," Theron said, "how hard do you think it is to have Kronos as a father? He is constantly expecting me to be like him. One day he will fade, not even immortals last forever, and I will take over as the King. I know what all of you are trying to do, even a blind mortal would be able to see it. Yes, I voted for Perseus and Annabeth to die, but they are demigods. We are Titans and the life of a mortal passes in the blink of an eye."

There was silence until Zeus stood up. "I have heard enough." The King of the gods looked around at the immortals inside the tent. "I think what will happen is obvious, even if I don't call for a vote. But, those who think Theron should stay here for a while, put up your hand."

Every single god inside the tent slowly raised their hand and Theron slumped against the pole behind him. "Of course," he muttered.

Zeus stood up and passed Theron to get out of the tent. The Titan thought he saw a bit of regret in the god's eyes, but quickly dismissed the idea. The other gods filed out and soon it was just the demigods and three Titans in the tent.

"Theron," Percy started, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Just go, Jackson," Theron said tiredly, "no need staying here."

Percy hesitated before backing away and pulling Annabeth with him, he slipped outside the tent. The remaining seven demigods stood there watching Theron until the Titan shifted slightly, "Well? What do you want?"

"If you did all that to them, why did you save us from your father at the Doors of Death?" Jason asked in confusion.

"I have nothing against you. Jackson killed my father, Annabeth helped him. Families are messy, immortal families are eternally messy. My father is messed up in the head at the moment," Theron smiled slightly, "he does not want to admit it, but all of us can tell. When you Romans made him an alter ego, he changed. I suppose I should thank you for that. He has been so distracted recently that I had managed to get out of Othrys and into the Underworld."

Iapetus chuckled, "By into the Underworld you mean visiting Styx, correct?"

Theron grinned, "Was it that obvious?"

"For us it was, nephew," Oceanus said. "I am not sure about the gods though."

One of the demigods moved forward until he was directly in front of Theron, he then sunk down into a bow. "My Lord, it's a shame we didn't get to meet properly last war, so allow me to introduce myself. I'm Luke Castellan, the son of Hermes and former host of Kronos."

Theron smiled slightly, "I know who you are, Luke Castellan. The Titans still speak of you – you made quite a lasting impression."

"Wait, what?" Leo asked, "You hosted Kronos? The time guy that tried to destroy Olympus last year?"

"Yes," Theron said, "Luke hosted my father in the last war. When Kronos arose to his true form Luke was killed. I revived him."

"And the Fates were annoyed with you for breaking an Ancient Law," Nico noted.

"So if you are a child of Saturn, like Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune, Juno, Vesta, and Ceres, then why do only the goddesses seem to like you?" Hazel asked.

Theron looked at her as if he had just seen her. "Hazel Levesque?"

"How do you know my last name?" Hazel asked warily.

"My father had the brilliant idea of wiping my memories so I could go undercover and feed them information without the gods suspecting anything. Hades was the god that found me." Theron said and waited for Hazel to understand.

"Oh gods," Hazel murmured, "you were Seth."

"I did warn you not to go to Alaska," Theron said calmly, "though I guess I should thank you for going and stopping Gaea's rise by several decades."

"Why do the goddesses only like you?" Hazel asked looking slightly shaken at discovering that Theron had been Seth.

"I do not know why even they like me," Theron muttered, "I almost killed them several times."

Jason looked at Piper before frowning slightly and turning to look at Theron, "Why did you almost kill them, and when?"

"Why do you think I am a Titan, child of Jupiter?"

Jason didn't have to think for long. "You supported Kronos during the Titanomachy," he said, "why?"

"Do you support Jupiter because he is your father or because you want to?" Theron asked.

Jason hesitated for a fraction of a second, "Because he is my father."

"Kronos is my father, and I am far older than my siblings." Theron said carefully, his father was likely to be listening with the amount of times they had said his name, one wrong word and Kronos would be even more annoyed with him. "I helped to kill Ouranos and created the dinosaurs. Othrys was far greater than Olympus will ever be, and my siblings rose up because of a misunderstanding."

"I would not call it a misunderstanding, nephew," Iapetus said, "Kronos ate your siblings."

Theron shrugged, "Understandable. They are annoying."

"No more annoying than you, Theron," Oceanus chuckled, "do you not remember what you used to be like as a Titanling?"

Theron grinned, "Of course I do. What you may not realise is that I made it my life mission to annoy all of you to Tartarus."

"You nearly did," Iapetus muttered.

"Anyway," Theron said as he looked back at the demigods, "I supported my father because he and my mother raised me, along with the whole of Othrys. He is not a bad father, but it is hard to please him."

"How old are you?" Frank asked warily.

Theron frowned and looked at Oceanus for help. "Um… Two billion? Give or take a few million. It becomes hard to remember after the first twenty million."

The demigods' jaws dropped and Theron chuckled, "Surprised?"

"But you…" Piper's eyes were wide. "You are the brother of the Big Three and their sisters, right?"

"The older brother," Theron nodded, "Kronos' favourite, Rhea's favourite, the Prince of Othrys, and current captive of Olympus," he grinned.

"Why are you so happy about that?" Nico asked in confusion.

Theron cocked his head to the side slightly then shrugged, "Being around the Titans for several months in Tartarus with nobody but the demititans and said Titans for company can get rather boring. And I have never really had the opportunity to get to know my siblings; I may as well start now." He wriggled his hands slightly and the demigods watched in disbelief as the ropes loosened enough to give him more movement. Theron chuckled at their expressions, "I have had lots of practice when it comes to getting out of restraints. Hyperion and Krios seem to take great amusement out of seeing how long it will take me to get out."

"I believe Zeus will be wondering what we are doing in here still." Iapetus said, "We should leave."

Theron nodded slightly, "Go. I will be fine here."

Oceanus hesitated as he looked at Theron, but soon strode out of the tent and was closely followed by Iapetus and the demigods. Once Theron was sure he was alone, he grinned, "I know you were listening." He said to the empty air in front of him.

"You mentioned me so many times I started to get a migraine."

Theron shifted until he was in a comfortable position and rested his head against the pole behind him. "Do not worry about me, Father. I will be fine."

A long sigh echoed around the inside of the tent. "I do not trust the gods."

"I know," Theron said, "but you must try to get past your differences with them as I am trying to do. Please, Father?" There was no reply and Theron felt the presence of Kronos retreat. He shook his head in amusement at his father's stubbornness, and settled down to listen to the conversations outside the tent.

Next chapter - Of Better Times

Theron is at Thessaly (against his will) and the gods seem intent in keeping him there for the foreseeable future. What will next chapter hold for our favorite Titan? (At least he's my favorite one anyway. Not sure about you guys.)