Author's note:

Alright, for me this is half an hour late, it's already 00:30 monday morning, but I had a blast writing this and hope you'll enjoy reading it as much. The last of my fight and dark oriented chapters for a while, puh, that was a challenge to write XD Hope i haven't lost you in that grimdark lol.

Disclaimer: None of Percy Jackson or Harry Potter belongs to me

Theo:

"Rider approaching!" The lookout called. Theo stood up, bow over his shoulder. It might be Malcolm and Nico, but the scout had only mentioned one. Better safe than sorry, he thought while pulling an arrow out of his quiver. Dawn had finally arrived. The Eternals were gone, for now.

The Demigods camped at the second rendezvous point, on a small clearing, weapons strewn across the grounds, as was the norm. A small fire crackled between the sleeping teens. None of them looked good. Scratches, bruises and bandaged cuts where littering their bodies. Well, at least they were alive.

The rider, an orange camp-halfblood t-shirt clearly visible, was slowly coming into view. The horse hung its head in exhaustion. The demigod on it was slumping in the saddle, as if half asleep. His curly, blonde hair was dusty and filled with twigs, leaves and speckled with mud, but Theo recognised him immediately. It was Malcolm.

But where was Nico? The son of Athena had gone out looking for him, surely he wouldn't return without him.

Unless- But no, Nico couldn't die.

He was the best of their fighters, rivaling Percy and Jason. He was basically invincible.

Surely he had just taken another route, followed some Eternals, something like that. Something heroic and stupid.

With that last part Theo wasn't that wrong, he'd soon realise.

By now, the horse was just outside the clearing, and something within Malcolm's hand gleamed in the dull sunlight. It was a tiny skull, an amulet. Nico's amulet. Theo's eyes darted up, to the face of the Halfblood. Long streaks glimmered there, the grime and dust was split distinctively by those little lines. For a while Theo wasn't sure what it was. Then it hit him. Malcolm was crying. Theo had never seen the son of Athena cry. It was a mute sort of sadness, a lack of sobs, or screaming, or arm flailing, as he had seen so many other demigods do over the last week. There was only that blank stare in Malcolms eyes, and the slow trickling of tears down his cheeks.

"He's gone." whispered Malcolm, his voice broken. He slid down the horse and crumpled to a heap on the floor.

Theo didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. Nico, dead? The Ghost King, destroyed by shadows? That just couldn't be. The son of Hades hadn't lived through three wars to be killed like- like this. Theo rushed over, grabbed Malcolm and shook the demigod with a violent urgency, but the other was motionless. Then, suddenly, the son of Athena turned around, and for the first time, Theo truly saw Malcolm's face. His pupils were shattered. The eyes and nose were reddened, almost inflamed from the mixture of tears and grime. His upper lip was trembling. "He's dead!" Malcolm whispered. "Don't you get it? HE'S DEAD!" His voice had turned into a scream.

The other campers had woken, and were staring at Malcolm numbly. He hadn't been the first one that couldn't take it. Nyssa had reacted the same way days ago. Now Nyssa was dead. And so was Nico. Theo couldn't move. Nico had been their leader, had held them together. But, he was gone?

"He's not coming back." Malcolm sobbed, so quietly only Theo could hear it.

ten or so hours later

By now, it was almost night. Malcolm wasn't back to normal. Theo had the distinct feeling that the son of Athena was hiding something from him. Something bad. Worse than Nico's death.

After the demigods had learnt about the Ghost King's fate, they had all hopefully stared at Malcolm, waiting for him to take over the leadership, but nothing like that happened. The exhausted demigods had seemed oblivious. So now, they were without a leader. No child of Ares or Athena, well, except Malcolm. No children of the big three. Only a Hermes kid, Stiles, two children of Apollo; Will and one of his brothers, he, Theo, son of Demeter, Elizabeth, a daughter of Aphrodite, and the last daughter of Hephaestus: Aech.

Theo was probably the best fighter out of all of them. He definitely knew theses forests better than any other demigod. But a child of Demeter did not lead. Especially if he hadn't completed an official quest yet. He couldn't lead, and the only other two that might have made decent leaders; Will and Aech, had made it clear that they did not want to. Will was a medic, more often behind front lines than within them, and Aech, well; Aech was perfect- Theo shook his head. His crush was unimportant at the moment. Aech was a builder. Not a military strategist.

The son of Demeter sighed. The shadows were growing longer and longer. The branches of the trees around the clearing were cracking in the wind. Now that the sun was going down the breeze had turned from chilly to icy. Theo shivered and huddled closer to the small fire and stared into the flames. He still couldn't believe they had lost Nico.

Night was coming fast. Already the glow from the flames in front of him was stronger than that of the sun at his back. He shook his head. They needed a leader. And the only one suitable for that role was Malcolm. With a last wistful thought to a good night full of sleep, in a warm bed with blankets within an actual house, he stood up, shook out his legs and made his way over to where Malcolm was sitting.

The boy looked almost as bad as he had that morning. He had not slept much, even after Will had given him his last sleeping tea, which was usually quite effective.

"Hey, Malcolm." Theo started, uncomfortably. Was it too much to ask him to lead, even after Nico's death? We need him, he reminded himself. If we're to make it out of here, we need him to lead us.

"Look, I know this is rough, but you need to get over it. At least for the moment."

Malcolm looked up to him with empty eyes, all energy had vanished from his body.

"I need you." Theo continued. "They need you! If we're to survive this, you need to lead all of us."

Malcolm stared at him for a few seconds, only to look down again. Not even one of his fingers had twitched. He just sat there, not even aknowledging that Theo was standing right infront of him. Theo gave up. Deep down he had known that he could not convince the son of Athena. It was hopeless. This night, they'd have to fight without a leader.

"Do you know what they do with the corpses?" Malcolm asked, his voice broken.

Theo's eyes widened. He had expected a lot, but not that. He was about to ask Malcolm, but someone gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

It was Elizabeth, a warning stare in her eyes. Theo had the distinct feeling she knew what happened with the corpses, and the way she looked at him he was sure he would not want to know. "Shouldn't you gear up?" She asked him a second later, after that look had vanished.

"Yeah. It's almost time for another round." Theo said, black humour evident.

Elizabeth gave him a sad smile and patted his arm. "It'll be alright." She didn't believe it herself.

"Not all stories have a happy-ever-after." he replied, trying to control his voice. He marched off, quickly, so that she could not see the tears welling up in his eyes. It had not been a happy ending for Nico. Or Michael and Jaina. He had seen many of his friends die. And even more had died behind a tree, or in a trench, somewhere far off, where no one had heard their cries, their last prayers, the calling for the parents they would never see again. So many whose story would be left untold, whose bodies, unceremoniously dumped, would be left to rot. Too many. Theo shook his head to get those thoughts out. It was time. He donned his helmet, grabbed his bow and quiver. He checked his arrows. The knife at the side of his shoe. The greek xiphos at his side. The weapons were sharp and in good order. He was never sloppy with the tools of death.

a good hour later

"RUN!" Theo screamed. The formation broke up.

The Eternals had found them faster than usual- no wonder without Nico's distraction. He and Elizabeth would break off to the left. Will and his brother to the right. The rest, using the horses, would gallop straight ahead and then curve off to either side, flanking the shadows. This time, Theo had no horse. He had given it to Malcolm, who still wasn't himself. The moment of division was close. Not yet- they had to lure the eternals in for the cavalry to work. not yet… soon tho. They passed another three trees. The shadows were close on their heels.

"NOW!" Theo called out. They had just started to move away from the group when a piercing screams made them stop in their tracks. Behind them, they saw Stiles. Impaled by a long spear, held by an eternal that had materialized in front of him. Next to Stiles stood Will's brother, Jack. He had also been stabbed, but by a sword, and from the back. Around them stood the other Eternals. Their long capes the only thing moving. Some of them seemed to grin. Jack gasped for air and spit blood. He raised his hand in a feeble attempt towards Will, standing hundreds of meters away. And then he fell. The life faded from his eyes, and the coughing stopped. He was still. Jack and Stiles lay next to each other, an almost peaceful look on their faces.

The eternals still did not move. The moon had come up, and the steel of their swords was glinting in the blue light. They just stood there, in a circle, quietly watching. The breeze had stopped. No nightly animal was to be heard. The silence was absolute. For an eternity, or a moment, Theo couldn't tell. And then, just as suddenly as it had come, it shattered.

"NOOOOO!" Will screamed, and thrashing, tried to make his way back to the corpse of his last brother. His closest brother. It seemed to take all of Aech's strength to hold him back. Movement also came back to Theo. He pulled Elizabeth by the hand and she too was ripped out of her trance. With all the speed they could gather, they ran through the dark forest, stumbling here and there, but almost not noticing it. Two more down. They were five demigods left.

Around 23:30, Theo and Elizabeth stumbled into Malcolm. He was sitting on his horse quietly, staring of into the distance. He did not move.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Theo hissed."Are you trying to get yourself killed? Ride, for gods' sake, ride!"

Malcolm bent down, calm, and for the first time since Nico's death, collected.

"Theo, tonight is different. They're going for the kill."

"So you're saying they weren't killing us before?" Theo shook his head angrily. How could Malcolm say that?

"No, they were just toying with us. Tonight, the game is over."

Theo looked up, speechless. So they had given their all, while the shadows had been holding back this entire time?!

"They're herding us together. Will is closer to us than he should be. They are killing off the horses strategically. Mine's the only one left. Most importantly, they ambushed us right at the beginning, and if you hadn't broken off the main group that early they would have gotten much more of us. There's no point in running. They'll catch us, sooner or later." Malcolms head hung down.

"You're not telling us everything are you?" Elizabeth said, her face gleaming with sweat, but her eyes steady and looking at Malcolm with a mixture of fear and sudden bravery.

"No. I'm sorry, but" He stopped, and whispered: "Aech is dead. They got her, around an hour ago."

Theo, who thought his world could not have gotten any darker, fell to his knees. His mind went blank. He had no tears left to cry. He was done. All he wished for was a complete memory wipe. To forget everything. The good, the bad. Just have all fade into nothingness. He did not care if the Eternals would find him, he did not have any strength left to stand up.

Elizabeth spoke, and ripped him out of his trance. "Then we make a final stand. Right here. This hill should do the trick. Let's give these fuckers a fight to remember." Her voice was steel, Theo had never heard the daughter of Aphrodite that determined before.

Malcolm's lips twitched, as if he was about to smile. "Alright, I'll collect Will." And with that he was off, riding towards a distant hill.

In some pocket he had never known existed, a final reserve within his heart, Theo found the strength to stand up, a final time. He skimmed the woods. Already, some shadows were approaching. Slowly, as if they knew that the demigods were not running any longer. Slowly, to savour the final kill. The moon was shining down upon them, smirking at their plight. Elizabeth grabbed his hand. Their fingers intertwined.

"It was nice knowing you." She said, a smile crossing her lips.

Theo stared deep into her eyes. She was a good friend. Always had been. His last friend, it seemed. "It was nice knowing you too." He closed his eyes, and only opened them at the sound of hooves approaching.

Malcolm was back, and Will was with him. By now, the eternals could be seen encroaching them from every side. They were almost gliding over the forest floor, their black silhouettes shimmering blue in the night. The trees were long shadows reaching to the sky. up there, the stars were shining brightly, maybe a last goodbye the gods had sent them. The others had unsheathed their swords. Malcolm had dismounted, to die at the side of his cousins. Theo pulled out an arrow, and shot. It hit a shadow straight in the left eye hole.

"Nice one!" Will exclaimed, causing the others to laugh at the situation, a shared laugh, a last one.

"Let's shove some stell up their asses!" Malcolm said.

And screaming "Olympus!" they charged down the small slope. If the shadows were impressed they did not show it. A first was decapitated by Malcolms longer Spatha, a second stabbed in the guts by Elizabeth's Xiphos. Theo shot off arrow after arrow, each time hitting an Eternal. But they were too many.

Will fell. And after a terrible cut to the arm, Elizabeth dropped her sword and screamed in pain. Soon it would be over.

Theo took one last look at his friends. They hadn't done so bad after all, had they. They had survived longer than he could have imagined to be possible. Theo was proud that he could call them his friends. His family.

He gutted another Eternal with his sword, standing over the still bleeding daughter of Aphrodite. He would protect her to his last breath. A few meters off, Malcolm was twirling like a tornado, slashing into Eternals at light speed. But they returned faster than he could kill them.

Another dozen of the shadows appeared. Now they were done for. A single tear trickled down Theo's cheek. And then-

Silver arrows, gleaming like lasers in the moonlight, hit the Eternals around him. Wolves howled and stormed towards the shadows, jumping up and ripping out black throats. The long and rumbling sound of a hunting horn ripped through the night.

And then they were there. 20 teen girls, angels sent from the sky. Two dropped on their knees next to Elizabeth, bandaging her up, a third ran over to Will, checking his heart beat. "He's alive! We need a medic!" She called out, and another girl coming over with bandages and what looked like ambrosia.

The others held bows in their hands, firing relentlessly at the shadows. They shot so fast that even the Eternals' regeneration did not give them a decisive advantage. A stone fell from Theo's heart. They were rescued. At least some of his friends would survive.

He lifted his bow with new energy and joined the Hunters of Artemis in their volleys of arrows. Suddenly, a black haired girl stood in front of him.

"Thalia!" he exclaimed happily, pulling her into a hug.

"The reunion party can happen later, buckethead." She said, but even so, she smiled. "For now, we need to get out of here."

And with that, she once again blew into her horn.

"Why the hell won't they answer?" She asked, angrily looking at the sky, as if expecting the gods themselves to intervene.

A confused Theo was about to ask what she meant when a large shadow moved across the sky, blocking out the stars. It was a gigantic, flying ship.

From above them; a voice talked through a speaker. It was Leo. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Argo III is here for the rescue, you have permission to board."

Theo laughed. At least Leo hadn't changed.

Maybe I'm really not as evil as everybody thinks. See, some survived. In all seriousness tho, this is quite dark, even for me, so don't expect this to continue being that dark for any length of time. Hope you enjoyed!

See ya next week with another chapter

Fives signing out