Sophia
Looking around the room, I thought to myself that never before had there been a bigger War Council in Camp Half-Blood.
"First of all, I welcome you all to this War Council. We have much to discuss." Chiron started.
Everyone murmured back a hello. Julius reached for the cheez wiz.
"To start things off, how many of us are there left?"
"The Amazons are here with nearly Eight Thousand soldiers. As Well as many supplies that I'm sure everyone can use." Ostia said.
"As for us, We've got around a thousand legionnaires left, though the citizens are trained in basic weapon use, so some of them are probably gonna join our ranks." Viscount continued.
"Bruce?" Chiron asked.
"We lost around three dozen campers..." He said, his shoulders hunching.
Chiron looked at him for a moment longer, knowing what was troubling him, before continuing.
"We lost friends and family in the battles against the Persians, but the Threat has been dealt with. Their Commander is currently tied up in the basement, and all we have to do is get the information out of him."
Mr. D walked into the room, where he instantly stopped.
"My, I wasn't expecting so many guests." He sighed.
"Mr. D, Please join us," Chiron told him.
His eyes locked with Apollo.
"Brother?" It was the first time I had seen Mr. D actually surprised.
"Hello, Dionysus."
"Now there's a story here that I want to hear, but I won't disturb. We'll talk later." Apollo nodded in agreement.
"Anyway..." Chiron continued, "We have to discuss our next course of action. We know that our Walls here are pretty stable, and with such a force standing behind it, any new attack will probably fail against us. But I doubt that we'll be the target of Tartarus. Not anymore. He'll be striking at the most important location. Mount Olympus."
"Why would he do that? He easily has the army to destroy us."
"His power is limited above ground, and he knows that. He won't even care to expend his power to destroy us. Olympus will be his target, and he'll try to get there no matter how many he has to kill."
"What should we do then?"
"Start building defenses. As far as we know, we'll be the only line of defense between Olympus and Tartarus. There are thousands of us here, and with just the supplies Camp Half-Blood had, we managed to build a formidable wall of defense. What could we do if we concentrated everything we had to make New York into a Death Trap for any monster or Persian." Bruce said.
"What about the Mortals though?" Bob asked.
"Don't worry about them, when we came through there, the place seemed deserted, and Olympus was emitting blue lights. To me, it seemed like the two were connected-"
"You are correct, Sarah Whitmore." Mr. D Piped up, "The Other Olympians are shoring up defenses, getting ready for the upcoming battle."
"Also, I know for a fact that we aren't the only ones that will defend against Tartarus."
Half the Room raised an eyebrow at me.
"The guys that we had met after the Battle of Temple hill, the Assassins of Chaos. I met Harold Jameson, Daniel's Second-in-command. He told me they are shoring up an army."
"Pfft," Bruce grunted. "What's an army gonna do against the unstoppable tidal wave that is Tartarus?"
"If you saw what they could do, then you'd think different. There were close to a thousand of them, each one superbly trained. If that wasn't an army, then I can't begin to think of what Harold actually calls an army. Point is, we'll have some time before New York gets hit. We'll have time."
"Let us pray to the gods that they will hold the line then," Chiron muttered.
"However, we still have to talk about how we'll get our defenses together." I continued.
"I'll Send a Message to all the Intact Amazon Warbands and Warehouses to send everyone and Everything Over to New York. What we have here isn't all that we have." Ostia said.
"How many Soldiers can we expect?"
"Petra?" Ostia asked, turning to the Woman we had met in Tulsa. After Commander Meghan had died, it was her that got the rank of Advisor to the Queen.
"If I'm correct, we currently have around Three and a half thousand Warriors skirmishing with the Persians in the South. From our different Outposts around the world, we can probably gather another Two Thousand if we're lucky, though we've lost connection to most of our European and South American Warehouses."
"The more the merrier." I heard Desdemona mutter beside me.
"As for us Romans, we can start to train new soldiers immediately. I'll also send messages to Ex-Legionnaires, that aren't exiled, to see if they are willing to join us. That'll probably bolster our Ranks back to around Two Thousand." Viscount told us.
"As for us, we hunters can't help too much sadly. This is all there is of us." Thalia said, her shoulders hunching slightly.
"We need everyone we can spare Thalia. You are very much needed here." Chiron told her.
"Us Greeks, We can also try calling back our Demigods. There are many who went to live in the Mortal World." Bruce said.
"Okay, these are all good things to start off with," Chiron told all of us. "But we're still far from ready with a plan. For now, let's end this War Council here. I'll let everyone return to their Camp Spots."
As I was getting ready to leave, Chiron called me over.
"Sophia, it's good to see you again." He smiled as I walked over. "Please walk with us into the basement. You're going to be needed."
"The Persian Commander?"
"Yes."
"Who else is coming?"
"Me, Bruce, Apollo, Viscount."
"Alright, let's get going then."
Walking down the stairs of the basement, I found myself entering a dimly lit chamber. In the middle of it sat a worse-for-wear Persian Soldier, tied to a chair.
Upon seeing us, he started yelling in rapid-fire Spanish.
Bruce slapped him, and he stopped. After recovering from his daze, he spat blood onto the floor.
"My good man, we do not wish to cause you any more pain than what is necessary." Chiron started.
"Bunch of Idiots. You do not think that this is a bad idea for you? Keeping me here? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I am Captain Morteza, one of the best Captains of His Majesty. He's surely building up a force for a counter-attack. Your worthless Camp will be burned to the FUCKING ground."
Bloody Spittle flew from his mouth.
"You will tell us of your plans this INSTANT." Bruce roared back.
"Hah. Maybe you greeks are such morons that you give every captain of yours all of your plans, but us Persians do not do such a thing. What I know is no use to you. I have not gotten word from my King ever since I left the main force with this army."
"Fuck..." I muttered, leaning against the wall.
"Is this true what he says? Viscount?"
He nodded silently.
"Then it seems you have outlived your-"
An Ear-splitting bang sounded from outside, and yells of Campers went up.
"What in the name of-"
In the blink of an eye, a dark shape was standing before us, the crack of the door splintering to nothing registering much later.
There was no time to react, None. Viscount came flying towards me, crushing me against the wall. Chiron and Bruce went flying the other way.
A Dash of Crimson Splattered the wall, quickly followed by the chair and the limp body of the Persian.
And like that, it was gone.
"Fuck my life, what was that?" Bruce muttered. I pushed Viscount off of me, who groaned.
The first thing I noticed was the dead body of the Persian. A deep gash ran along his throat, and his eyes were glazed over. Clearly dead.
Chiron was groaning in pain, and as I looked at him more closely, I saw one of his legs pointing in the wrong direction.
I heard the trample of feet come running down the stairs. Demigods, weapons in hand, were charging down it.
"What happened?" John asked as he got down.
"That's something we're trying to figure out as well."
"And where's my father?"
He was Correct.
Apollo. He was gone.
Taken.
Commander Tarik
How long had it been now?
Hours?
Days?
Years?
Time felt meaningless, my brain was boiling. Exhaustion was wracking every square inch of my body.
At any second, my legs would give out and the sky would crush me.
Yet with every second that passed, I surprised myself, for I was still holding it.
I couldn't see anything distinct. The Mountain top was no more than a blurry haze of Brownish-red and Blue. When the Black dot appeared, I was certain this was my end.
More and more of my sight was getting covered by darkness.
Then I heard talking. It sounded like the rustling of leaves, it was so inaudible, but still, it was there.
I wanted to call for help. But no words would come out of my mouth.
Apollo
"What in the name of Olympus have you done to this poor man?" I asked, shocked.
"It's your choice, Godling. Let him die, or take his place." The Creature replied.
He was a sorry sight indeed. His hair was dirty white, both his eyes bloodshot, and his face pale.
Only moments ago, I had been standing in the basement of Camp Half-Blood's Big House. Now I was here, where Atlas should have been. Except instead of a Titan, a feeble man was holding the sky. A Mortal, on the brink of death.
He was a Persian, that much was for sure, but it disgusted me that you'd torture a mortal like this.
As for why I was here, I had been kidnapped, that was also a certainty.
"What happens if I don't do anything?"
"I will make you regret it." It smirked, revealing black pointy teeth.
"You cannot kill me, deep down I am still a god."
"Oh, I know. Why else would I have chosen you? But you can still feel pain, and I know how to inflict that." It smirked.
I had never held the sky before, but my sister had. She had described the feeling, and man was I not looking forward to it. Especially with me in this Mortal Shell. What I had said to the creature, about me still being immortal, well, that was a gamble. I wasn't sure.
I collected my thoughts.
Taking Punishment was something that in the end I'd be happy to take compared to the sky.
As for the Persian, I couldn't care less if he died.
However, if he died with the sky in his hands, that would easily destroy everything on this continent, if not the world.
I couldn't let that happen.
"Very well." I agreed.
Bracing against the funnel, I took a few deep breaths. It was cool to the touch and very wet.
I smashed against the man, pushing him out from underneath the sky funnel.
At first, I felt like I could hold it no problem. Then came the pain. My joints ached, and I thought that any second I would bite the dust. That the Sky would crush me to a pulp. The Point of the Sky Funnel was digging into my back, shocking me with tiny lightning bolts.
"You Gods are more stupid than I thought..." The Creature laughed. His voice sounded distant, distorted.
It grabbed my chin and slapped me. The pain was dull, compared to the Sky.
Then he was gone, disappeared into black mist, taking the Persian with him.
King Shradeth
"So what exactly do you wish for me to do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the Greek Titan that now stood before me.
It was a hard made decision, one that I instantly regretted. Tarik was one of my best commanders and letting him hold the weight of the sky, that was something I'd never forgive myself for.
"Give me an Army. One Hundred Thousand of your soldiers, and all the siege equipment you have."
"What is your plan?"
The Titan sighed impatiently. He grumbled something about unknowing mortals.
"Hera's Orchard, the one around my Mountain. It's guarded by a dragon that is friendly towards me. Ladon is his name. I can get him to do many things, but leaving his guard position is close to impossible."
"So you plan on capturing him?"
He let out a booming laugh.
"Not even Tartarus would be able to capture him. He is immortal and incredibly powerful. No. I won't capture him. Instead, I'll burn the Orchard."
Maximus started choking on his spittle behind me.
"Speak, Maximus," I told him.
"My King, burning down a sacred grove is suicide. It'll bring the wrath of the gods down on us."
Atlas merely chuckled.
"You're wrongfully terrified, puny mortal. We will anger Hera. She'll appear in the Grove, bent on revenge. But Gods are worthless at giving attention to their creations. Hera merely employed Ladon as a Guard for her Orchard, but it is I, that befriended him. The Moment we destroyed the Orchard, Ladon will be free, and he'll listen to me."
"And if it doesn't work?"
"Then every Persian soldier will face Hera's Wrath."
I stood up from my Throne.
"You wish for me, to sacrifice my entire Empire, cause you have a plan that may or may not work?"
"If you don't want to help me like this, I'll take with Tartarus, and he'll convince you to help."
He'd struck a nerve, and he knew it.
I gulped and sat back down.
I thought for a good minute.
"Take what you need," I muttered.
He smiled and walked off.
I silently said a prayer to the Gods, hoping that the Titan's plan would work.
Not a second later, a black figure appeared in front of me, dropping an old man on the floor.
It looked different from the one I had already met. Much leaner, but also taller. Easily Three Meters compared to the Wounded One's Two and a half.
"I am Ashoka the Great. My master sent me to help you."
"And what did you bring me?"
"Your Commander. My Master decided he is still needed for his plan to work."
I looked at the old man closely, and he groaned. Then he turned towards me.
It was Tarik.
"What the hell?" I gasped.
"He won't be able to talk for a few days. And he'll look like this for a few years. Maybe Decades."
"Then how should I use him?"
"He still has a mind for strategy. Once he feels better, he'll still be of good use."
"Maximus, call for a medic."
He scurried off.
"Where is Genghis?" It asked.
"Who?"
"My Brother."
"Oh. So that's what it's called." I muttered, "I don't know where he is. Last time I saw him, he was wounded from a fight. Since then he's gone."
"I know where he is then, thank you."
And like that he was gone.