A/N: Super important note here, the narrative is going to be changing from here on out. I've felt that recently you guys haven't been fully understanding emotions and such from the characters, and that's really not an okay thing. Emotion is a very present and important part of this story, and if I'm failing to present that to you readers, then I'm failing as a writer.

From here on out I'll be writing in the Third Person, that way I'll be able to properly showcase emotions from all characters in that certain spot of the story. Sorry for a change in narrative perspective, but once again I feel like it's the only way for all characters to get their fair due in the story.

~Trax


Spring 2011

The base camp Mori's forces have been running out of was exactly as Annabeth had expected to be like. Small, compact, but holds many warehouse-sized buildings that likely contain the supplies for Mori's underground empire.

Annabeth is a clever girl, the years of war and battles have honed her mind into the most dangerous weapon she's capable of wielding; still, even with a mind as sharp as hers even she has doubts of a successful attack by three demigods against the garrison of the base.

Monsters of all kinds mull around, lounging and lazily patrolling about the grounds. The moon is high in the night, so none of the creatures spot Annabeth spying on them, but she's counted at the very least one-hundred monsters of various kinds right now; not counting the same amount likely resting inside of the plethora of buildings inside the compound.

The grass rustles next to Annabeth but she is unbothered, her brother Samson and young charge Bianca snake through the grass and lie next to her, waiting for her to report the current situation.

"How's recon going? We haven't found an easy way in from the other area."

Samson watches Annabeth as she sighs and rubs her temples. It's not a good sign if she ever sighs, and Samson knows this well.

"They've got the base protected from all sides, and even if we sneak in successfully there's no way we could take on the sheer number of monsters in there! We need backup, numbers on our side. Can we get the Hunters to help? Or even a Legion strike team?"

"No can do,-" Samson says, shaking his head, "Artemis can't help me anymore and Reyna's told me the Legion isn't ready to mobilize against an army for a while, they're still recovering from the war with Gaea. We could ask Chiron for help, but it would take weeks to gather a significant number of backup and transport them out here."

Annabeth nods her head and looks out back into the base, formulating a clever enough plan that three demigods could pull off.

"There's no heavy weaponry in the base, those assault rifles you recovered combined with the armor you attached to the van could really help us out, but again a successful attack needs more then three of us."

A thought rings in her head and she turns and looks at Bianca. The Daughter of Hades returning her look with a curious, yet nervous stare.

"Bianca, do you think you could summon some undead for us? We haven't started your training much yet, but your lineage makes you very powerful. If you could summon even a dozen or so soldiers we have a good chance to win!"

Bianca scratches her arm nervously and huffs, her heart pumps rapidly and she does her best to stay confident.

"I-I can try, but I've never done this before! I don't even know where to start…"

Samson pats her head and gives her a fond smile; the boy being lost in his memories of when Mori was first teaching him magic. The student then becomes the master now.

"I can teach you about that. Anything mystical is my area, I've had great teachers after all. Let's go back to the van and see what we can do."

Bianca nods solemnly, but her eyes are steeled with a slight courage. For all of her time as a demigod, Bianca has felt her most useful when she was a Hunter of Artemis; an affair that lasted barely a couple weeks and ended with her untimely and potentially even wasteful death.

Now is her chance to prove her worth! In her eyes, Samson and Annabeth are senior-most demigods of the highest caliber, truly hero's worth striving to be like. Bianca believes this in an opportunity to finally prove herself with powers entirely her own!

No cheating blessing from a goddess, no babysitting from worried friends; this is her spotlight time! Her glory!


A deep shadowy abyss forms in the dirt, screams and echoes of damnation straight from the Christian idea of Hell seep up from the darkness. Bianca focuses on the quick training Samson taught her, using the power of her own will to summon undead spirits to fight on her behalf.

An eerie and self-pleased smile forms on her face as nine blobs of the darkest black rise from the shadowy pit. The darkness peels back and flows into the abyss before it too vanishes, leaving nine military dressed men in heavy combat attire that's torn and ratty like classic zombies.

Most of their flesh is covered by clothing and gas masks over balaclava's. The infamous hammer and sickle path on their left biceps leave little doubt about the era these men were from upon their deaths.

Samson stills and his eyes narrow to slits as he recognizes the infamous men. He was never very interested in American politics when he was mortal, but every person born in his time, demigod or not, recognizes and fears the symbol of the Soviet Union.

Afterall, for Samson, the enemy of the West was still a nuclear threat for what felt like months ago for him.

"Bianca," Samson warns, "Are you sure you want to use these men? KGB squads are enemies of America, we could be betrayed by them."

Annabeth gives him a queer look before realizing Samson definitely fears anything Russian. She makes a mental note to go over the history of Russia after he died so she can assure him the world is a much better place since the last time he was around.

"Don't worry Sam! These men are completely loyal to me, I am the Daughter of Hades after all! Besides, these guys look totally awesome, there's no way we'll lose with these guys under my command! Speaking of, do you nine understand why I have summoned you?"

The head officer steps forward, his movements professional as though he were speaking to the leader of Russian himself.

"Da. We understand completely Komandir. Enemy base must be destroyed, and we are explosives. At your word, we shall begin operations immediately!"

"Wonderful! You may begin, though you guys should talk with my friends here. They've already begun scouting out the base, together I'm sure you'll find out the perfect way to bring the base down!"

The officer nods and turns to Annabeth and Samson, the Son of Athena looking very displeased about working with the Soviet soldier.

"Greetings, I am Ivan. This here is my company, Ivanoff, Ivanon, Ivangone, Ivanhere, Ivanqueer, Ivanot, Ivanan and Ivan."

Annabeth and Samson blink a few times, both tilting their heads to the side and giving the stoic soldier awkward looks.

Ivan, the commander, chuckles deeply at the confused demigods, "Is joke, no worries! Don't worry about names, no need to memorize them. Come, we must scout base once again."

He spins around and marches with his squad towards the base; the Children of Athena glance at one another for a second before shrugging and following suit with Bianca in tow.


Ivan scans across the base, taking count of the troops and equipment left to guard the compound. His many years of espionage and fighting in Afghanistan in the eighties has left his mind with a razors edge. A small squad with a big impact is his specialty, especially against large groups of disorganized and under-armed militia.

These 'monsters' may be fearsome, but so is lead from his gun. The assault rifles the Japanese boy supplied his squad with will be more then enough to handle a herd of dull creatures such as these.

Ivan will never tell anyone, but he prefers the weapons the Americans supplied their troops with over the weapons his comrades used in the motherland.

It's accurate and packs a punch, a worthy weapon. Truly a worthy weapon even if it is American. His eyes scan across the base and his gaze stops when he spots a familiar attack-helicopter developed in his homeland.

"There, in the open field. Mil MI-24, helicopter made by Russia. We sneak in and commandeer it and we will destroy the base from the air with more troops attacking on foot. Komandir, I will take three men and steal the war-beast, the rest of my men shall attack on foot with the armored van. Use the car as cover while we strike from the air, explosives will distract and scatter the enemies and our bullets shall end them. Give the command and we will begin."

The three demigods give Ivan impressed looks, even Samson does too. Ivan has clearly proven his ability within only a few seconds, all of them are very relieved he fights on their side! Bianca nods at Ivan and he leaves with two other troopers, sliding through the shadows and brush towards the base with scary efficiency.

Everyone else immediately heads back towards Samson's modified van, loading up into it and driving it back towards the road leading up to the compound. Thankfully it's easy enough to hide the vehicle just down the road, none of the monsters even bothered to send patrols down the road.

The ground group waits in the shadows, their nerves razzed as they wait for the sounds of alarms and a helicopter.

With good efficiency, Ivan begins his attack! Samson and Annabeth hear a large explosion and see the light of fire shining through the trees. It has begun.

Samson puts the van in gear and it slowly lumbers towards the gate. The heavy armor weighs the vehicle down, but he sees it as a reasonable tradeoff for survivability. The van approaches the gate and immediately it's seeable the base is in turmoil.

Fire and smaller explosions rock the base, monsters of all kinds run around as an old armed helicopter unleashes machine gun bullets and rockets onto the fleeing creatures. Ivan is forced to dodge as cyclops's and other giants start launching rubble at the aircraft.

"Everyone, out-NOW! We need to cover for Ivan! One of you guys drive the van, the rest of us will follow engage on foot!"

The occupants save one undead Russian exit the van and begin engaging stray monsters, creating a purposeful ruckus to draw attention away from the aircraft. Samson launches himself at a cyclops with his new spear, driving the electric tip into the large eye and killing the beast quickly.

Annabeth throws a new knife she bought at camp and lodges it into the neck of a dracanae trying to bite Samson's neck from behind. He sees the beast fading into dust and gives her a grateful smile. He tosses the knife back and she catches it midair and spins around and stabs a Kobalos in the head, ending its miserable life.

Bianca stands behind the van and uses her new favorite weapon, the Python Samson gave her, and blasts a variety of monsters straight in the head with scary accuracy. She's thankful that the Hunters still taught her to aim instead of relying on their blessings, but she's even more grateful that her death has led her to this moment.

Hunters are dull people and traveling with Samson has been the most exhilarating journey she's ever undertaken. If she was given the choice, then staying as Samson's apprentice is far more enjoyable and rewarding.

A soldier pulls her to the ground with her yelping as a series of loud and fierce bullets slam into the side of the van she was hiding under. The whooshing of a helicopter sounds overhead and she spots a different type of aircraft circling overhead to prepare for another attack run.

She looks at the armor and sees that the bullets traveled all the way through the vehicle and destroyed almost half of the undead she summoned while also ripping up huge chunks of Samson's van.

Anger seeps into her veins and she pushes the (re)dead soldier's corpse off herself and readies her trusty revolver. She takes a few steps an raises her gun. These douchebags dared to hurt her summons and damage Samson's prized vehicle, they will pay with their lives!

The nose of the enemy chopper turns and faces Bianca, she fires a bullet off and it bounces off the side of the armor near the air intake.

"C'mon," She screams with rage, firing yet missing again, "Shoot me! C'mon, SHOOT ME!"

As if responding to her command the heavy guns on the side fire a stream of hot lead. Because she's perfectly in line with the cockpit, the rounds miss her entirely. A few more slam into the van again, ripping holes into the armor.

She grows fiercely and aims with the gun again. The sights line up and she inhales deeply, the intake seemingly zooms into focus on her vision. The sounds of the world seemingly muffle, and she exhales. The boom of the revolver unleashes a fierce bullet that travels the distance to the helicopter in only a fraction of a second.

The upper engine ruptures in plume of smoke, Bianca's bullet struck true into the air intake! The propeller up top loses its speed causing the helicopter to spin uncontrollably and crash into a large warehouse.

Bianca waits a few seconds and the whole building explodes in a huge fireball, debris goes flying into the air where it comes down and squashes dozens of monsters or lights them on fire. Burning monsters and debris soon spread more fire, giving the base the impression of it being like the infamous Fields of Punishment.

The Daughter of Hades grunts a few times and turns around and starts firing at a group of Gegeines trying to get the drop on her. Samson and Annabeth stare at her dumbly as she laughs maniacally like a psychopath.

"Hey, Samson?"

"Yes, Annabeth?"

"I think we should like… confiscate that gun from her or something?"

They watch her blast the knee of a cyclops, the powerful gun blasting the leg in twine where she then places another bullet straight into the eye of the beast.

"Yeah… do you want to even try?"

"…Fair point. Oh gods, she's becoming another Sam!"

"Sam? Who's that?"

A cold shiver runs down Annabeth's spine and she immediately knows that Eris is warning her not to tell Samson. When last they spoke, the Goddess of Discord made it very clear she wants Samson to be completely ignorant about Sam's existence.

If she remembers correctly, the Goddess wants it to be that way for 'comedic affect".

"He's just somebody I know," She states neutrally, parrying a sword from a Kobalos and severing the goblin's head, "Think nothing of it."

"Fair enough. The main building is up ahead, that's where we should find the boss and his files. Let's go before they call in reinforcements!"

Annabeth nods and races towards the building, cutting down a random monster and engaging two dracanae in a fierce duel. Samson takes his axe and chucks the weapon at one of the monsters, hitting the foul creature directly in the head and almost splitting it right open.

He holds his hand out and the axe is ripped free with a sick squelch where it flies back into his hand. He twists the handle of his spear and the long shaft shrinks and condenses into a hand-sized handle. His twirls the sword form around and quickly swipes up, cutting a small hellhound's mouth in half.

Bianca commands the surviving three soldiers and engages the remaining monsters left in the compound, calling out to Samson and Annabeth and telling them she can handle things outside.

The two siblings run into the building, if though reluctant, and kick the hard doors open. The headquarters is a three-story building, and if tradition is right then the boss is sure to be on the top floor.

The doors crash open and the heroes come face to face with over a dozen monsters of varying types. Empousa, Dracanae, and Harpies of many colors spin around and glare at the duo. Sharp teeth and claws clack furiously, and the herd of monsters charge the siblings of Wisdom.

Annabeth immediately severs the head of an Empousa and twirls around a swipe from a harpy and counters the beast by stabbing it in the head. Samson slaps an Empousa's sword out of her hand and bisects the beast by her waist, he kicks a Dracanae in the gut and parries another strike from a different monster with his axe.

Annabeth stabs an Empousa sneaking up on Samson's blindside and ducks from a harpies' swipe. She takes her knife and swings up as she rises, making a long cut up the bird-woman's entire body.

She ends the beasts screaming with a quick stab to the heart and goes back to cutting down weak monsters with her brother at her back. The two make quick and efficient work of the remaining monsters, expertly showing off their ability to fight in sync.

With the last monster turning into dust, the two race up the stairs and head towards the second level. They find a few stray monsters, but nothing worth remembering as the continue to the last floor. Besides sheer numbers, there are no strong creatures populating the base. Whomever the leader of the base is, however, is a different story entirely.

Whomever Mori's entrusted to be her Lieutenant of the base is sure to be strong enough to hold the position. Samson and Annabeth are on their guard for whomever they may be!

The hallway on the last floor leads to an immaculate double doorway. The siblings stop before it and meet one another's gaze. They nod and turn to the doors, kicking them both open simultaneously.

They strut assuredly into the large room that is likely the Lieutenants office. At the far end of the room is a large desk with a large chair facing away from them. Besides the two demigods, the place seems abandoned.

But Annabeth and Samson are smart individuals, and both are more then aware of the person hiding behind the throne-like chair.

Explosions, gunfire and regular fire light up in the reflections of the glass room, the carnage casting eerie shadows and orange light in the dark room. Samson glances up at the flickering lights up ahead and guesses that the power of the building has been destroyed, likely from Ivan's commandeered helicopter.

"Spin around," Annabeth commands from their side of the room, "You're surrounded, and your base is destroyed. Answer our questions and we'll show mercy."

The being in the chair slowly swivels around, the shadowy figure chuckling as they idly play with the sword in their hands.

"Well, never thought you'd have the guts to come after us like this. I've got to say, bravo! You truly live up to your legend, Annabeth; even you, mister imposter!"

Samson rolls his eyes in annoyance and steps forward, pointing his sword at the shadowy figure in a threatening manner.

"Yeah-yeah, you're just a broken record at this point! Listen to the lady and drop the sword, it's the easy way and the only one that lets you stay alive. So put your hands in the air!"

The figure in the shadows rises from their chair and walks around the side of their desk, sword held firmly in their hands as they face down the two intruders. Samson and Annabeth ready their weapons and prepare for a fight.

"Truly, you're a wonderful recreation, it almost feels like I'm looking at my real brother!"

Samson's nerves start firing as he listens to the stranger's voice, an uncanny feeling threatening to swallow him whole. That voice… it can't be!

The figure walks into a stream of light that illuminates their face. Samson's breath hitches as he gazes over the achingly familiar boy; their face is soft and round, tiny freckles cover the bridge of their nose and speckle across to their cheeks, their hair is short and messy with a soft sandy brown color to it.

And lastly are their eyes, a stormy grey with just a hint of madness behind them. The eyes of a Child of Athena left too long inside his mother's mind. The eyes of a brother long since dead…

"W-william?... Is it… is it really?...No… she couldn't have!"

Samson feels his heart shatter into millions of pieces as his (supposedly) deceased brother laughs at the sorry state of him. Annabeth's mind races as the name 'William' rings in her think pan. William… is it really the same one from Samson's time?

Based on her brother's reaction, this is assuredly the same one! The big question to her, is straight up HOW?!

Could William have returned when the Doors of Death were opened? It's the only way that makes sense to her, that's the only way a spirit could be bound to the world after death.

Samson begins shaking and Annabeth puts a hand on his shoulder, snapping him from his shock and telling him she'll handle this from here.

She takes a powerful step forward and glares at the cackling form of her other super old brother.

"If you're really William, then how can you be here and why? The real William would never align with an evil person like Mori and treat his brother like this! Who are you really?!"

William stops cackling and rests his sword on his shoulder, giving Annabeth a smug grin. Samson shivers as he watches the boy. William was always a nice boy, he would never have an expression like this!

"It was back during that war against Gaea, Mori used her powers to summon me and everyone else from Elysium and bound us to her will! She empowers us, controls us, shows us the truth of this faker. I've seen the truth, and I know that mother and the rest of Olympus needs to be destroyed! To truly avenge my brother, they all must die!"

"Then you truly aren't William. Any true Child of Athena would know the gods are better then anything else. I'm sorry it's come to this, but you are the faker! Samson, if you can't take this I'll handle it…"

Samson shakes his head and readies his sword, steeling his courage and ignoring the bile rising up in his throat.

"No, we'll do it together. This guy claims he's my brother, but there's no way. We'll kill him and get the intel. Simple as that." Samson gains a distant look to his eye, "…Simple as that…"

The William imposter readies his sword and Annabeth and Samson prepare to counter. In the blink of an eye, Annabeth brings her sword up to block and is blasted far away by William. Samson's instincts flare up, warning him of danger.

That imposter, he moved so quick Annabeth barely blocked his strike! Even then, the supposedly resurrected boy hit her so hard she was thrown away.

Samson lashes out with a flurry of fast and precise strikes, pushing William on the defensive, or so he thinks. William suddenly parries Samson's sword and punches him in the sternum. Samson coughs out golden blood from the surprisingly strong strike and flies back into the wall.

He slides down and coughs out more blood, gagging as he coughs while also trying to inhale simultaneously.

"So this is the big bad Samson?" William mocks, holding his arms out as though he's inviting Samson to try and fight him again, "Is this really the best you can do? Are you such a poor copy you can't even recognize his own techniques?! The real Samson taught me that!"

Said Samson's eyes widen, a dark pit forming in his stomach. This can't really be… no, William is long since dead and in Elysium. This is a doppelgänger, there's no way he isn't!

William looks left and is blindsided from a nasty haymaker from Annabeth, she hits him so hard he's thrown to the floor and slides several feet farther.

Samson coughs one last time and rises back to his feet. He stands by Annabeth's side and she roughly slaps him on the back. He rolls his eyes with a smile and the two ready for a fight, this time prepared for their enemy.

William kicks himself back to his feet and growls, the false demigod very angry with himself for allowing himself to be caught unawares.

"Luck shot, won't be happening again!"

"Doesn't matter. We've tested the waters, now we know what to do. Should've taken us out when you had the chance, only a fool lets something like that go to waste!"

William's temper snaps and he lunges at the two with a furious cry. They dodge to his either side, Samson parries with his axe as William decides to focus on him. Annabeth seizes the opportunity and slashes at his unguarded back.

He spins around as fast as lightning and blocks but cries as Samson makes a long gash across his back with his sword. William jerkily turns and slams his sword hard at Samson who catches it in the cross guard and kicks him away.

Annabeth slashes along his waist as he goes past her, William groans in pain and jumps impossibly far away from them. The duo glance at one another in worry, both of them nervous about the potential power William might have.

Whatever is letting him jump like that is not a natural power.

He clutches his bleeding side, mad eyes glaring at his half-siblings as a slight red haze fills inside his eyes. His red blood seems to glow lightly, as if he has a light inside of his own body.

William roars with a ferocity and lunges at Annabeth and Samson, saliva drips from his mouth as he seemingly goes completely feral.

Samson cries out as William collides with his chest, the weight throwing him to the floor where the feral boy straddles his chest and lays a vicious series of heavy blows to his face. Annabeth lunges at William and stabs her knife into his back. He cries out and swings his arm back, pushing Annabeth away in an arc.

She collides with the window, cracking it but not fully breaking it. A plan forms in her mind and she gets back to her feet with a groan.

Samson is still getting his face mashed by the crazy lunatic, so she quickly tosses her sword at him. He cries out in pain as the sword slashes across his back, leaking out more glowing blood.

He turns to Annabeth with an animalistic fury. She gives him the middle finger Magnus style and William lunges at her like a fox on a rabbit. At the very last moment she drops down to the floor, the feral William goes flying over her head and crashes straight through the window.

She listens carefully for a few seconds until she winces at the unmistakable thud of a body hitting hard dirt.

Annabeth collapses to the ground right quick, breathing in relief that the fight was over quickly and without too much difficulty. Suddenly she realizes that her brother was getting throttled only a few seconds ago.

She's on her feet in an instant and is by his side, making sure he isn't too damaged. For once, she's thankful he's immortal. Ichor in his veins makes him much sturdier then a regular demigod, so at most he has a bloody lip and cracked glasses.

"Holy shit," Samson gasps, taking his broken glasses off and scoffing at the damage, "What even happened?!"

Annabeth takes his hand and brings him to his feet, patting his back and laughing at the scene.

"You got your ass kicked is what happened. C'mon, he fell out the window. Let's make sure he's actually dead."


It was a pitiful sight when Annabeth and Samson found William outside. The fighting has long since subsided, the garrison either being killed or running away from the ferocity of Bianca and her summons.

William didn't actually die from the fall, but his body is still broken and torn. His limbs are cracked in disturbing ways, blood spills from the wounds created by the bones that pierce his skin. Tears spill from Samson's eyes, but he fails to understand why.

This is just an imposter, so why does he feel so destroyed?

Samson keels by William's side and listens as the dying boy tells his final piece. The red haze to his eyes has left, only sparkling tears and pure innocence shines from his grey eyes.

The pit in Samson's stomach soon becomes a gaping chasm. Those eyes! He knows those eyes! He would never forget them! The harshest reality crashes down on his shoulders and a feeling of gaping numbness clouds his mind.

He cups William's face and tenderly rubs his cheek. Samson tries to speak but no words come from his mouth. What can he say? Sorry I've killed you again?!

William speaks for Samson, love and compassion almost radiating from his eyes alone.

"I-It's okay, Samson… This needed to happen…Mori…she brought us back, all of us… We're slaves to her will… not really us. Samson… you have to kill us… it-it's the only way to free us… We're in so much pain… torture… Send us back-back to Elysium. We…forgive you… we never blamed you… and neither should you… Samson… I…love…you…"

Hot tears spill down Samson's cheek as William coughs gross amounts of blood, the true brother of Samson suffering as he waits for his brother to send him back to paradise.

Samson grips his silver knife tightly and brings it above his brother's heart. His hand shakes as he holds the weapon ready, the crushing weight of mercy killing his own brother paralyzing him in fear.

William looks at his older brother one last time and closes his eye, showing his brother it's okay. Samson closes his eyes and brings the blade down. William doesn't even flinch.

And so, the deed is done. Samson removes the blade and drops it unceremoniously to the dirt. Annabeth comes to his side and puts a gentle hand on his shoulder.

He's quiet for a minute, unresponsive even. What is he supposed to be feeling right now? Happy to see his brother? Horribly crushed to realize he has to kill his brother to save him?

It takes a minute, but the ugly sobs of despair is all he can do in this situation. Annabeth is quiet as her brother cries his heart out. She's been at the sides of nearly a dozen demigods as they weep over the fallen, and for her brother she always will.

Through the despair and devastation Samson still remembers his brothers words. The rest of his family; Steven, Richard…Thomas, they live again, thralls enslaved to Mori's will. Death is the only way to save them, and by the Gods Samson will suffer every torture if it means his brothers will be left in peace.

Once he believed he caused the death of his brothers, and now he most assuredly will become the cause.

For the sake of his family, Samson will become the ultimate sinner. After all, the Fates directly told him he must die at the end of all of this. For the life of his Wife and everything he cares about, Samson Akira will die.