New update! Yay?

Welp, this chapter is what starts the three part finale to Percy Jackson and the Master of Magic. I hope you guys are excited.

Enjoy!

Percy Jackson and the Master of Magic

When Percy and Annabeth are asked to stop a monster by Reyna, they think it will be an easy last quest before retirement. But when the mission goes horribly wrong, Percy Jackson finds out just what kind of monster he could become.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or its characters, Rick Riordan does.

Reminder: This story is AU as of The Burning Maze. In this AU, it's been two years, and the defeat of Nero, Commodus and Caligula will remain mysterious save for the fact that Percy and Annabeth participated in the defense of Camp Jupiter. I kinda wanna stick away from Trials of Apollo for the most part, since this is my thing.

Chapter 18: Renegade

...

Annabeth, Leo, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Carter and Sadie were sitting together on a few park benches in Central Park. Calypso had gone with Festus to Central Park in the hopes that no one would spot the sparkling bronze dragon. Annabeth stared wistfully at the abandoned Mount Olympus. The helicopters had gone, but Annabeth knew that mortals had invaded the palace.

"So, we have the Ultimate God weapon." Leo said. "We have the spell Kronos can use to fix all of this, or Percy can, maybe. We are as prepared as we can be. Now what?"

"We plan." Annabeth said.

"And then we fight." Frank finished.

…

"So, how did we get him to us?" Hazel asked. "Can't bring a horse to water and can't bring a whole pail of water to the horse."

"Hazel, the rest of us do- we don't really get horse puns." Leo responded, confused.

"She means that Kronos could be anywhere." Piper translated. "How are we supposed to find him?"

"I think I've got that covered." Annabeth answered. "Percy is in there with Kronos. I can't pray to one without the other hearing my prayer, too."

"Can Titans even receive prayers?" Carter asked skeptically.

"There's only one way to find out." Annabeth responded.

"Still, we should think of a backup plan, just in case." Sadie suggested. "I might be able to fashion a summoning spell."

"Might be able to? Well, that's reassuring." Frank said. "Where would we exactly be summoning him? The battle could get pretty violent, and mortals can see. We wouldn't want a bunch of idiots with guns getting themselves killed."

"That's assuming we would last longer than a few seconds." Leo said.

"Way to be optimistic." Hazel muttered.

"I'm just saying." Leo said. "He's a Titan at nearly full power. Although, it is odd that he's so much more powerful now than before. Unless the war stories from New York just don't do Kronos justice."

"It's a little bit of both." Annabeth admitted. "I don't think Luke was as powerful as Percy is now. Remember what Nico told you guys about Percy being the most powerful demigod he had ever met? Well, when Nico warns you about another demigod being too powerful to handle, there is usually a reason for it. That's probablly why Kronos went after him in the first place."

"I think we're getting off topic." Piper said. "Sure, he's scary. But we've faced down worse and won."

"Back when there were gods to give us an occasional spot of help." Sadie reminded them. "And all those other times, we had something to fight for. The world, Ma'at, Olympus, yada yada yada. Now we aren't really fighting to save anything from being destroyed. We're fighting for revenge, for everything Kronos took from us."

"We have something to fight for." Frank sound with resolve. "We're fighting to get it all back. All of it. The horrible parents, the constant quests, all of it."

"You know, Frank, you're doing an awfully good job of convincing me this fight ain't worth the reward." Leo said.

"Leo!" Piper reprimanded.

"Kidding." Leo said. "We'd never be able to sleep if we didn't do this."

"Will Kronos see this coming?" Sadie asked. "Didn't you guys say he was the Lord of Time or something?"

"It doesn't matter." Annabeth said. "Guys, if we don't do this, that's it for this world. Kronos is going to roast the planet alive. Or worse. If there is the slightest chance that we can stop him, we have to take it. And remember, its not just about Kronos."

"Percy is in there too." Frank reminded them.

"And he's in there of his own free will." Carter responded snarkily. "Percy Jackson isn't exactly a priority here."

There was silence for a moment.

"Guys, we still have a huge problem." Leo broke the awkward silence. "We still have to figure out where to stage our showdown with a Titan. I mean, we don't exactly want to have a bunch of mortals caught in the crossfire."

There was another silence.

"Camp Half-Blood." Annabeth said. Every pair of eyes turned to her.

"Beg pardon?" Sadie asked.

"Camp Half-Blood." Annabeth repeated. "It's a place that is important to Percy. He loves it. Kronos hated it. So did Luke. It's the only place in the world where all three of them had strong feelings."

"Annabeth is right." Piper said supportively. "It should end where it started."

"End?" Leo said. "That sounds cheerful. Okay, but aren't there a bunch of government cronies watching the place."

"They can't hurt Kronos." Carter said. "We don't even know if we can hurt Kronos."

"But they can all hurt us." Hazel reminded them. "Those agents should still be on our minds when we attack Kronos."

"What about god weapons?" Leo asked. "Like that trident he had strapped to his back. Could that hurt him."

"Probably." Annabeth sad. "The gods were the ones to cast him down to Tartarus, so it stands to reason that their weapons were helpful."

"So, get the trident away from the Titan and use it against him?" Sadie asked. "Brilliant. Any other ideas?"

"We also have to worry about my dad." Frank reminded them. "He's Kronos' new lapdog, and he's pretty strong, even if he's not at full power. We'll probably have to beat him, too."

"This job just gets better and better." Sadie said hopelessly. "Pretty sure not all of us are walking away from this, if any of us do."

"That's always been the job." Carter sad. "The job hasn't changed at all, just the stakes."

"Well, I'm definitely putting in my two weeks' notice after all of this." Leo said. "I've done saved the world too many times. I might go to the beach."

"We're getting old." Piper agreed. "So, one last quest."

"One last quest." Hazel agreed.

"Let's hope we survive it, then." Frank said. "I'm sure the beach will still be nice after this."

"The beach." Annabeth agreed. "Sand, soft water, sunlight warming us up."

"Sounds relaxing, guys." Sadie agreed. "But we still have to get through this."

"Right, well, Ares isn't at full power." Annabeth said. "Not even close. Kronos would have wanted to keep Ares dependent on his power. Otherwise, Ares would betray him like Hades did."

"So, what do we do about Ares?" Frank asked.

Annabeth thought. And then she smiled. "Hey, Leo, remember the net we trapped Nike in?"

Leo grinned. "Oh, yeah. It probably wouldn't have held Ares for long before the Fall, but now?"

"It'll hold him as long as we want." Annabeth agreed.

"Why can't we use one of those god-holding nets on Kronos?" Carter asked.

"Bro, when is ever that easy?" Leo asked.

"Still, it'll definitely be worth a shot." Sadie agreed with Carter. "Then we might be able to bargain with him and get him to reverse the Fall?"

"We'd actually bargain with- with Kronos?" Leo demanded. "Seriously?"

"Of course not." Annabeth said. "We'd just be lying."

"Would we?" Carter asked. "If he reverses the Fall, the other gods will be able to take care of him."

"And kill Percy." Hazel said, her mouth etched with anger.

"Look, guys, I understand that Percy is your friend." Sadie said. "But he's brought this onto himself. If he has to die to save the world, well, would he want it any other way?"

Annabeth bowed her head. They'd never understand that she could not let Percy die, that Frank and Hazel could not let Percy die. He was lost, confused and angry but he was still their friend.

"Alright." Frank broke the silence. He gave Annabeth the war god look that let her know that he was thinking everything she was thinking. "We have a plan; we have our missions. Guys, this is our chance. We can fix everything that's wrong with the world right now, get our friends back, get everything back that we lost. Our lives, our homes. We can't mess this up. We have one shot, and if we miss, we die."

There was silence as the heroes absorbed everything he said.

"That was a dang good speech." Leo praised Frank. "Did you learn that from Reyna?"

Piper laughed as Franks face turned red. "I'm sorry, Frank, I shouldn't laugh. That actually was an inspiring speech."

"Good." Frank said confidently. "Let's get to it."

…

They were sitting in Hestia's Hearth around the Cabins at Camp Half-Blood.

"Is it odd we didn't see a single agent?" Leo asked.

"We're probably on camera." Frank remarked. "Maybe they figured they didn't need to leave any agents behind. It's been weeks since anyone was here."

"Maybe." Annabeth said. "It doesn't change the plan."

"You first?" Sadie offered.

Annabeth nodded. She closed her eyes and focused on Percy. "Kronos, I know you can hear me. I have a proposition for you. A chance for you to get your true form back. All you have to do is appear before me. It's not like I can hurt you, anyways."

The group waited, and Annabeth opened her eyes. There was nothing. No Kronos.

"Your turn, Sis." Carter said to Sadie. Sadie nodded, and drew a circle in the ground. She wrote some hieroglyphics in the air. "Kronos, step forth!" She shouted in Ancient Egyptian.

There was nothing. Nothing happened.

"Wow, this is anticlimactic." Leo said

"We could try Clarisse's radio in the Ares Cabin?" Frank suggested.

Suddenly, floodlights started blinding all of them. There were cops and agents flooding the camp, popping out of hiding places.

"That won't be necessary, kid." Ares called out as he and Kronos appeared out of thin air.

"I heard you the first time, Ms. Chase." Kronos continued. "I foresaw this day would come, when the last defenders of the old world would dare to stand against mankind, stand against me. And I was prepared for it."

The mortals all cocked guns and pointed them at the heroes.

Kronos grinned, his eyes blazing gold.

"Welcome to the end." He called to the Kanes and the demigods.

...

...

...To Be Continued?