Hello everyone and welcome back to Hidden Secrets and Shared Lies!

It

Is

Time

The fate of many people rests on Makayla's shoulders and it is now time for her to choose what said fate will be.

In this chapter, Ganabranth finally gets his answer and I'm honestly really excited. I like the way this one is played out despite taking soooooo long to finally create. I admit that battle scenes are not my forte and I'm pretty bad at them so I try not to go into a lot of detail and butcher it.

But I really do like this one and I hope you guys do too so let me know in the comments if you do or not. I'd really appreciate your input cuz there are only a few more chapters left and I want them all to be really good do we end on a good note!

I hope you enjoy and let's get right into this!

Two hours later, Makayla was forced to make her decision.

The sat on a couch opposite to Ganabranth and he waited. He had decided that her time was up and told her she needed to make her choice: stay with him as a surrogate daughter or return to The Serpents as his prisoner.

Makayla sat silently, light silver eyes on her hands as she struggled. Should she stay and save herself but possibly sentence her friends to war? Or go back and possibly save her friends but possibly sentence herself to a pain-filled death? She couldn't choose; she couldn't hurt her friends but she knew if she had to go through one more second of torture...

"So, Beautiful. Have you decided yet?" His sickly-sweet voice slowly brought her back to the present.

"I- I can't. I can't choose." She stuttered, her heart aching as it pounded in her chest.

"You're gonna have to." Ganabranth wouldn't relent. He crossed his arms as he leaned back, face and voice serious. "Think of it this way: if you choose to return to your cell, we'll be back at Square One all over again and everything that's happened so far would have been pointless." Makayla felt a hundred pounds fall onto her shoulders as tears began to form faster. "But if you choose to stay here with me, you'll finally get to live the life of a regular person."

She felt herself hesitate for a moment. Noticing the reaction, Ganabranth pressed further.

"You'll get to live in a comfortable home, settle down and make friends." He continued. "And because of the barriers here, you won't have to worry about monsters attacking. You'll be cared for and loved as my true daughter would. I could help you learn about and even master your powers."

"But...I'd be betraying my friends…" Makayla's voice was weak and quiet.

"Unfortunately, yes." He agreed reasonably. Ganabranth could see she was beginning to lean and decided to add the tipping weight. "But if you stay here with me… you will never have to worry about being hurt again."

Her heart stopped.

"R- Really?" She could barely hear herself as she battled her own thoughts. "Are y- Are… You're serious?"

"One hundred percent serious. Makayla… I would never hurt my daughter and I would never let anyone else hurt you either." Ganabranth agreed softly. He knew he just sealed his deal.

"I- I- I…" Makayla's heart was thumping fast as she stared with wide. Slowly, she felt herself begin to nod. "If you don't hurt me anymore the- then... Okay…"

Ganabranth couldn't hold back from smiling in triumph.

He won.

Jason looked up from his place in the training arena when a horn's blast rang through Camp half-Blood.

"-entrance of camp!" Someone half-shouted as campers ran around, grabbing weapons or other means of attack and defense. The son of Jupiter shared a glance with Malcolm Pace, who he had been sparring with, before taking off.

The son of the sky saw Piper and Annabeth off to the side and ran over to them.

"What's going on?" He asked as a greeting.

"We're not sure," Piper admitted as they moved towards the growing group of people, who parted to let the members of The Seven pass. "We were training when a guard saw something that made them blow the signal."

The two met up with Nico and Annabeth, who stood at the front of the crowd of warriors. Jason repeated his question and Annabeth gave the same response, not knowing the details of what was happening.

"Is it another attack or…" Piper trailed off when she saw the horde progress over the hill, eyes widening. "Oh no... that's a lot of people…"

Hundreds of warriors advanced towards Camp Half-Blood, every one of them armed for battle. Jason felt the blood drain from his face and his knees felt weak beneath him.

"What…?" Piper seemed unable to finish her question. Annabeth shook her head.

"I don't know but if it comes to a fight, we are severely outnumbered." She replied, grey eyes not having moved from the giant group; the enemy easily outnumbered them fifteen-to-one. She turned to the camper to her left. "We'll definitely need their help. Think you're up to it?"

They thought for a moment.

"I can do it. It'll take longer because of the distance but we'll make it."

"That's alright. Go. And please be careful?"

No one knew what Annabeth meant but the son of Hades nodded before dissolving into his own shadow.

The demigods turned back to the growing army of attackers, frowning when they stopped their advance, having reached the barrier.

"Maybe they can't get in?" Piper suggested weakly. One person, seemingly the leader, stepped forward past the barrier, then another, then another. She groaned miserably. "Of course they can get in!"

Then she and every other demigod at Camp Half-Blood frowned when the advancing army stopped. They waited for someone to make a move but no one did; they seemed to be at a pause. Time passed as the world held it's breath, neither side moving or even speaking. It was a very long five minutes later before something finally happened.

The shadows suddenly began forming together and Nico appeared with four others. He immediately collapsed to the ground, breathing hard.

"You alright?!" Annabeth worried, kneeling beside her friend.

The son of Hades said was clearly exhausted, but nodded and gestured behind him. Three very confused boys and one other stood from where they had stumbled to their knees. They tried to take in their surroundings but froze at the sight of the gigantic horde.

"Annabeth? What's going on?" Percy asked.

"How did we get here?" Leo added.

"And where did that come from?" Jakob finished.

"In order: no idea, Nico, and we don't know," Annabeth admitted as she hugged her boyfriend, quickly explaining their current situation. "So now we're just waiting. But what have you guys been doing, how'd it go with Chiron's contact?"

"We..." Percy looked like he didn't want to tell her but took a deep breath. "We really f**ked up."

"I went bad, very very bad. There wasn't anything wrong with contact himself, just a broken computer, but we ran into a lot of trouble afterword and we- I don't..." Leo trailed dejectedly off with a sigh.

Talking as fast as they could, Percy and Leo quickly explained that they had run into Makayla as she was attempting to break into The Serpent's Base then about Ganabranth's deal between her and her the other girl. They paused then told about their fight that resulted in the death of Makayla's friend, their ambush, and finally the deal made that led to Makayla's surrender and Jakob's freedom.

"I wasn't there for all that," Jakob admitted with a wince after the two had finished. He was leaning against a nearby pole as one of his step-siblings, another child of Apollo, checked him over. He was covered in multiple bruises and cuts. Several fingers on his left hand looked broken and he had a black eye. "I was in a cell most the time but I can tell you that it was him who sent that army right there."

"How do you know it was him?" Piper wondered, eyes locked on the army.

Then suddenly the leader of the army stepped forward with two others. They held up a flag of truce to show they just wanted to talk so, sharing a glace, Percy and his friends moved to meet them in the middle.

"Surrender." The stranger demanded as a greeting. He wore a full set of medieval-style knight's armor. The armor was surprisingly quiet as he moved and was made of dark red metal with an iron mask that hid just the top half of their face, a large broadsword slung over his back and a double dagger sheath his waist. Two angled slits served as eyes in his helmet, creating the likeness of a creature that was all too familiar.

"What do you want?" Percy asked in response, eyes hard.

"Your surrender." The masked man repeated. His voice was strong and Leo frowned as it sounded vaguely familiar. He cursed under his breath as he was unable to grab hold of the memory.

"Who are you?" Annabeth demanded.

"No one you would know, daughter of Athena. Surrender now or be prepared for a humiliating defeat."

"Sorry dude but we're dyslexic and didn't pay attention in school so we don't know that word," Leo told him with a shrug before Annabeth could answer. The masked man gave him a long look before turning to Percy and Jason.

"You're warriors. You know how battles like this will end; are you really willing to risk such bloodshed? You know that you're outnumbered and outmatched."

"Too bad. You can tell your leader to give his all because this is our home and no one takes our home from us!" The son of Poseidon declared. At his words, cheering rose from the campers behind him in agreement.

"You can try your hardest but every one of us will protect Camp Half-Blood until the very end." Jason agreed, earning another round of cheers.

"Very well. You made your choice and so your defeat will be on your own shoulders." The armored man announced after the campers calmed. He turned his gaze to the fire-user. "It's Leo, right?"

"The one and only." Leo frowned; the way he said his name sounded familiar and caused a suspicion to form. A grin tugged at the man's lips.

"My leader told me to send you his regards. He wishes that this battle will be- how did he put it...?" He paused as if thinking before finally letting his smirk show. "More of a challenge. After all… he was beginning to get bored."

Leo scowled as his suspicions were confirmed, Percy doing the same. The man turned to leave before pausing.

"Oh, one last thing: he wanted me to thank you."

"What for?"

"Thank him for what?" Piper repeated Leo's question when the man didn't answer. Ganabranth's Second In Command smirked once more, crueler than the first.

"For having a sister so Beautiful though. It's a shame that she won't be around for the battle though."

"Where is she, Johnathan?!" Leo demanded as his rage boiled in his stomach.

"If only he told me but even I don't know what he did to her. Bummer too; I'd love to be the cause her screaming once again." Johnathan mocked. The fire-user had to be held back by Piper and Jason, though the two had to avoid the flames flickering on their friend.

"If he even thinks of hurting her I swear that I-"

"Leo, stop!" Piper interrupted. "He's just trying to get under your skin."

"Am I that obvious?" The Serpent chuckled.

"How about a game?" The five looked up as Percy spoke.

"What was that?"

"Ganabranth likes games so much so I got one for him." He repeated

"And what is this game of yours?" Johnathan wondered. Annabeth answered instead, a plan beginning to form.

"The rules are easy: we fight at noon and if you win, Camp Half-Blood is yours." The daughter of Athena immediately received complaints from her fellow campers that could hear but she held up a hand to calm them and continued. "But if you lose and we win, you and your leader let Makayla free and leave Camp Half-Blood and all of its campers alone. Forever. Do we have a deal?"

There was total silence from both sides as hundreds of people waited for a response. Then a moment later, the Serpent nodded.

"Deal. We'll play your game." He agreed.

"First you have to swear that you and your team will follow the rules," Leo quickly added; he already knew not to trust a member of The Serpents.

Johnathan nodded and swore before heading back to his battalion. Percy, Annabeth, and the others did the same.

"Not to question your ideas Annabeth but what is going on in your mind?!" Jake Mason exclaimed when the five neared, now healed and out of his casts. "We are extremely outnumbered in case you didn't notice!"

"I know but trust me. I'm figuring this out," Annabeth assured, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. The demigods were crowding as they readied to hear the plan they knew she was forming. The daughter of Athena paused. "Where's Jakob?"

There was talking and second later, the son of Apollo stepped forward. He was still badly bruised, had several cuts (that were red but no longer bleeding) and retained his black eye but nodded anyway.

"I'm here." His blue eyes were level.

"Good." Annabeth took a deep breath before turning to him, Percy, and Leo with a look of serious concentration. "Okay. You three know more about these Serpent guys better than any of us. What do you know that could give us any sort of advantage?"

The three boys exchanged glances.

"Um… Not trying to shoot you down, but all we know is what Ganabranth let us figure out." Leo admitted with a sheepish shrug. "He knew where we were and what our plans were so we always ended up doing what he wanted us to."

"We were playing into his hands the whole time." Percy agreed, embarrassed shame in his voice.

"Well, I say we play this game and beat the s**t out of him!" An Ares camper shouted, earning a loud round of cheers.

"We can't just charge in there without some kind of plan." Laurel Victor argued, head counselor of the Nike cabin.

"We would definitely lose." Her twin sister, Holly Victor, agreed.

"Was there anything he wanted you to do that stood out or confused you?" Jason asked his friends, ignoring the other campers for the moment.

"Not really." Percy winced. "This guy is- he's really really smart."

"And totally psychotic." Jakob agreed, wincing as his wounds throbbed.

"Not to mention that he knows what he wants, how to get it, and will do anything to get it no matter what or where-" Leo suddenly cut himself off. He was silent for a moment as he gaped with wide eyes. "That's it! Why didn't I think about that before?! Estaba tratando de adivinar algo complicado cuando es realmente tan fácil-"

( I was trying to guess something complicated when it's really so easy-)

"Speak English!" Sherman Yang muttered.

"Guys, I figured it out!" The son of Hephaestus exclaimed excitedly.

"Figured out what?" Jason and Annabeth asked in unison.

"Okay everyone, listen up!" Leo shouted, getting the attention of all the campers. He rubbed his hands together as his signature mischievous grin came to his face. "Here's what's gonna happen..."

When the clock struck noon, The Serpents attacked.

Hundreds of Serpents swarmed forward and Camp Half-Blood shouted battle cries as they met the enemy head-on. Arrows were fired from both sides while catapults and other means of war fired projectiles, the sound of shouting and weapons clashing echoing through the air. The warriors of CHB had managed to gather and put together everything they needed despite the little time they had and barely managed to set up their entire defense and offense before the Serpents readied their attack.

Leo felt his heart thumping as he, Percy, Annabeth, and several other campers crouched hidden from enemy sight. He silently prayed his plan would work and that he wasn't crazy for thinking of it.

"I really hope this works, Leo," Annabeth muttered to her friend. The fire-user could only nod in agreement, mouth dry.

The demigods had managed to sneak their way into their enemy's base of operation thanks to the help of Festus. Leo had grabbed the automation and flown into the fight once the battle began. Jason had flown the sneak-attack group one-by-one behind their enemy's line (Nico was too tired to attempt a shadow Travel again) as their attention was drawn by the bronze dragon. Once the small team was over and out of sight, Jason had swapped with Leo mid-air so the son of Hephaestus joined the ground troops while he and Piper flew on Festus and continued to attack from above.

Leo's eyes narrowed when he noticed a dozen soldiers guarding a certain area of the Serpent's camp, that one small path having more soldiers than anywhere else. He took a silent note then snuck back to where the small group waited. He relayed the information and four members snuck off.

"Now?" Percy whispered a few minutes later. The son of Poseidon looked ready to jump but Leo shook his head.

"Not yet." He told him, hands silently fiddling with wires and machine parts from his tool belt as he watched the guards. "Just a second longer…"

A minute later, a loud explosion sounded and a plume of smoke appeared off to the left as the ever-troublesome twin sons of Hermes set off their bombs. Just like Annabeth predicted, six of the twelve guards rushed over to see what had happened but their future warnings were silenced via ambush by Clarisse and Chris.

"Ready Annabeth?" Leo then asked, their plan moving into motion. The blonde nodded and slipped on her Yankees cap, a second later disappearing from sight.

He, Percy, and several others watched as one guard fell suddenly to the ground with a harsh but non-fatal wound. One of the other guards moved to their side as the other three readied their weapons and looked for the source of their parter's attack. A second guard then collapsed without a sound as Annabeth, still invisible, slammed her dagger into their temple. Leo felt his chest tighten but forced himself to stay calm as anxiety took over; they might actually pull this off!

Of course, that's when everything went wrong.

Moving too fast to react, the third guard turned around as their comrade fell and swung. He managed to hit Annabeth with the body of his spear and the force knocked her back, causing her cap to fall off and render her visible once again. The guard saw her and immediately sounded the alarm. A dozen more guards came running as the previously hidden half-bloods rushed from their hiding place to help their friend. Percy jumped to Annabeth's side and sliced down a guard to give her time to get to her feet only to be attacked by the guard that had spotted her.

"Leo! Percy! Go now! We got this!" She shouted as Clarisse and Chris joined the fight. Nodding, they cut a hole in the Serpents' defenses and bolted through.

The two ran through the area to where Leo knew he would be, both hearts pounding as their determination rose with each step, burning or cutting down enemies whenever they appeared. They knew time was limited. Sprinting fast, Percy and Leo arrived at the rondevu point quickly and found Nico waiting in the shadows nears the ruins.

"What took so long?" The son of Hades demanded as a greeting, voice barely loud enough to hear.

"Annabeth's cap got knocked off so we had to improvise," Percy explained in an equally low tone.

Nico nodded and signaled his unseen helper to stay put, who nodded silently in response. Then the three boys then snuck their way to the large ruined building, crawling on their knees to avoid the light from the broken windows as they silently moved to the front. They reached an old door and Percy signaled to stop. Listening hard, the boys could faintly hear someone talking quietly and their hearts hardened.

'On my mark.' The son of Poseidon then mouthed. He held up three fingers.

Three

He and Nico readied their swords.

Two

A sphere of fire sparked to life on Leo's palm and they took a deep breath.

One

Leo stood and raised his arm, hurling a white-hot ball of flames at the building with all of his strength. There was an explosion as the wooden door blew inward. He, Percy, and Nico rushed in with weapons ready but were stopped by a familiar voice.

"Well well well. It's about time you three showed up. I was beginning got get bored."

And that concludes the forty-fifth chapter of Hidden Secrets and Shared Lies!

Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue. Please leave a review because criticism, advice, complaints, and/or compliments are all welcome.

Have a good one and I'll see you later!