Sorry guys, no recs this week. Got caught up.

Well, we have another chapter. This can be considered as the true climax of this entire story.

Note: I do NOT own PJO or HOO. Otherwise, I wouldn't be uploading this here.

Chapter XLV

The entire clearing was shocked into silence, not even noticing how the tremors died away. The Iris message had stabilized once more, the view clear and sharp, allowing all of them to see the Demon King latched onto the upper half of Tartarus, the knife Percy had taken from the surface plunged deep into the primordial's chest.

Artemis was shocked that he was even able to stand after the beating he had received, let alone manage to sneak up on Tartarus without alerting him of his presence. For a moment, she thought that she had seen a hint of green and red in his acidic yellow eyes, but she assumed that it must have been her imagination.

The primordial stumbled back, the knife sliding out of his chest. Silver blood oozed out of the wound, but she could see that it was tinged with black. The Essence of Styx had entered his body, destroying him from the inside out. The Demon King leapt down from the lord of the pit's shoulders, standing before the being. Even though he didn't really reach Tartarus' lower chest in height, he was still menacing as he stalked forward, never allowing the gap to widen.

"H... how can the Demon King remain unaffected by the poison when even a primordial is being eaten away by it?" she asked, not expecting an actual answer. To her surprise, Apollo actually replied.

"It's said that his essence cannot be hurt by any curse, since he himself is far deadlier than they could ever be," he whispered, causing her to shiver once more. The more she knew of the creature, the more terrifying it became.

Tartarus looked up, and for once, she could see raw fear in his body language. "How? How are you still standing? There's no way you should have been able to survive that!"

All the primordial received in response was a hiss of anger before the Demon King lunged forward once more. His arms burst into Greek Fire, enveloping the blade he held. It looked like he didn't have enough stamina to cover his entire body, but Artemis knew that it was enough. Tartarus' arrogance had gotten the better of him. He hadn't ensured that his enemy was dead, and he hadn't utilized his environment. Those errors were to be the reason for his downfall.

The knife dug into Tartarus' flank before being withdrawn just as quickly, the wound bathed in green flames. He roared in pain before swinging his massive arm, catching the Demon King straight in the face. The creature stumbled back, but she could see that it didn't do anything close to the damage his previous strikes had. All it did was daze the King, before he was right back inside Tartarus' guard, not allowing the primordial to swing his massive blade.

The knife was a blur of movement, becoming even more difficult to see due to the roiling mass of Greek Fire that surrounded it. It cut and slashed the primordial's body, silver blood flowing in rivulets from the wounds. She could see the black substance slowly infecting Tartarus' blood, but it was agonizingly slow. After all, the primordial was an immensely powerful being.

The barrage of blows continued, the Demon King becoming even more frenzied in his attacks. Artemis could tell that he was bound to slip at some point; with no logic present behind his attacks, it was a guarantee.

Finally, Tartarus managed to pull himself together enough to hit the Demon King away with his fist, sending the creature rolling along the floor. Still, she could tell that it was a far weaker attack than whet it had previously been, with the King leaping back to his feet almost instantly.

The primordial's abdomen was a mess, cuts and slashes littering the expanse. His chest had a few cuts, but the main wound was present in the centre from the initial attack. He was breathing heavily, the vortex that was his face not swirling as wildly as it used to. Blood coated his entire lower half, the infectious black slowly overtaking the silver.

The Demon King stood where he was, waiting for Tartarus to make a move. His face was set in a terrifying snarl waiting for the being before him to make a move.

"You... you will pay..."the primordial hissed, his hand pressing against the wound in the centre of his chest, trying to staunch the flow of blood. "I will... see you... suffer..."

Even as he spoke. Artemis knew that his words would remain unfulfilled. The sword slipped out of his grasp, having remained irrelevant for the entire duration of the battle.

The Demon King growled in response, although she thought that she detected a sense of maniacal laughter in the sound. "Death... finish..."

The words made no sense at all, but she could tell from his body language what his intent was. The creature leaped up towards the primordial's face, the injured lord of the pit far too slow to react. He grabbed hold of the being's face, his claws digging into the flesh, before stabbing the knife through the void present in place of Tartarus' face, straight into the region where his brain should be.

Tartarus roared in agony, the sound causing the entire room to tremble under the intensity of the sound. But even as the primordial tried to grab him and throw him off, the Demon King slid down before plunging the knife into Tartarus' chest once more, this time straight into the heart.

Artemis felt her heart leap into her throat at the sight, before she saw a dull glow emanating from Tartarus' body. She knew what it was, of course. No god, titan or primordial would die without releasing all the energy within their physical manifestation. The more powerful the being, the more powerful the explosion, and she knew that Tartarus was in a league of his own.

The Demon King must have realized the danger he was facing, since he took to the air instantly, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and the imploding primordial. He left the knife lodged in Tartarus' heart as the lord of the pit desperately tried to pull it out, even though all of them could see that his body was beyond any hope. The Essence of Styx had been present for far too long, eating away at him as time passed.

The Demon King flapped his massive appendages as hard as he could, but he was still far too slow in his movements. He had barely managed to put fifty yards of distance between himself and Tartarus when the glow emanating from the latter suddenly spiked, before suddenly drawing in on itself.

For a moment, she nursed a small, wild hope that he would simply collapse in on himself, without any discharge. It seemed like her wish was granted, but then she saw the pulse, and knew that her wish would go unanswered.

In a blast that could have rivalled a nuclear bomb in its intensity, Tartarus' physical manifestation tore itself apart, the immeasurable amount of energy within him rolling forward in an unstoppable wave. The Demon King glanced back before trying to speed himself up, but to no avail.

For some reason, it was completely silent. There had been no desperate cry from Tartarus, no loud explosion from his body tearing itself apart. It was almost as if someone had turned off the volume, causing the entire scene to feel even more desolate.

The blast smashed into the Demon King, but they weren't able to see what happened. Just as the wave engulfed the figure, the Iris message froze, before fizzling out of existence, both Iris and Hecate dropping to their knees. At the same moment, Artemis could feel her heart drop as well, not knowing how Percy would survive, if he was even present within the mind of the Demon King anymore.

Pain... hurt... victory... finished...

His head slowly lifted up, feeling the blood coating the right half of his face. He could see the entirety of his surroundings look like they had just been in the middle of a bomb blast, which could be an accurate depiction of what had happened.

He felt as if his mind was more lucid than before, and he realized why. His weaker half was trying to assert control, but he definitely wasn't going to allow that at the moment.

He hissed, turning in on himself in an attempt to subdue the sudden uprising. He could feel his weaker half try its best to hold on to the handhold it had managed to create for itself, but he was definitely stronger. He pushed the weakling down, not allowing it to have any chance to resurface once more.

He slowly stood, feeling the pain lacing throughout his body. He breathed heavily, allowing his body to slowly heal. The injuries that littered his body slowly closed as he stood in place, not wanting to move as it happened.

He slowly stretched his wings out, shrieking as he felt the pain from where Tartarus had grabbed them before throwing him into the wall. It took even longer for his appendages to heal; after all, they were definitely far more fragile than his regular body.

He slowly flapped over to where Tartarus had imploded, seeing the crater that was formed in the region. It was a dome-like depression present in the floor, fifteen feet in diameter. He could feel the trades of energy that surrounded it, a few particles still hovering in the air following the explosion.

He could taste the finality of the explosion. Tartarus' consciousness may have survived it, but it would never have the strength to create a physical manifestation that would be capable of any damage, no matter how much time passed. The Essence of Styx had taken its toll on the primordial, leaving nothing left for the being to work with.

End... no more... finished...

He could feel the very same poison lurking within his own body, but it didn't matter to him. After all, the curse wasn't going to affect him unless his weaker half finally took over. It was another reason he so adamantly held on to control. He had no wish to die, something that was bound to happen if his other half returned to the fore.

He looked up, sensing that the castle around him was beginning to crumble. The explosion had caused it to become unstable, and his instincts told him to leave before he was trapped in a heap of rubble even larger than the one he had previously been under.

Instantly, he took to the air, still feeling the stiffness in his wings. They laboured under the weight of his body, lifting him up at an agonizingly slow rate. He could feel the strain, but he ignored it, knowing that his muscles were almost done healing. He instead focused on the crack in the ceiling, knowing that he had to get out of the death-trap as quickly as he could.

The area around him fell away as he lifted himself higher and higher into the sky, watching dispassionately as the room below him slowly crumbled into nothing more than a heap of rock and dust. His eyes probed the surroundings, slowly returning to their previous red tint. He could feel himself slowly slip back to the primal state of mind once more, something that he relished and enjoyed.

Free... escape... leave...

The dead landscape was not fit for him. He could see multiple protrusions from which he felt a malevolent energy, although not even close to what he had felt from his downed opponent. He could tell that it was a land of kill or be killed, and he didn't have enough of a toe hold for him to attempt continuing his existence down there.

Instead, he glanced up, seeing the light present above him. He could feel the air that filtered through, faint as it was. It was pure, without any of the taint that infected the land he was currently in. A perfect hunting ground.

He made a quick decision, swooping up as his wings finally settled back to their normal state. He slowly ascended from the depths, reaching towards the opening that stretched out above him. The wind brushed past his face as he ascended, and he could feel the gradual yet definite change in the atmosphere. It was becoming lighter and lighter as time went on, the previous oppressiveness fading away.

He couldn't see how far the exit was, but he didn't give up along the way. All he knew was that the path he was following would open up into a world that was ripe for the taking, having never been exposed to anything that even remotely resembled him.

Fire... blood... death...

Pandemonium reigned within the ranks of Olympus as they tried to understand exactly what had just occurred. Iris and Hecate were taking slow, deep breaths, trying to regain their equilibrium, while Poseidon and Hestia stood right next to them, demanding answers.

"Why did it cut off so quickly," the god of the seas asked. "You still had enough stamina to last for at least another twenty minutes. What happened?"

"The blast was too powerful," Iris answered. Artemis remembered her previous interaction with the goddess, and how upbeat she had been back then, almost to the point where it had been sickening. No trace of that was present anymore. "It was too much interference for me to maintain the image, even if I had exerted every last bit of my power."

"I couldn't have done anything either," Hecate added. "It was enough of a struggle to maintain the protection I gave against the air of Tartarus while his and the Demon King's auras were clashing around the landscape, but when a blast of that magnitude comes, there's nothing that can possibly stand in its way."

Artemis felt the fear in her gut at the finally statement. Nothing can stand in its way. She felt that Hecate was trying to subtly imply that Percy wouldn't have been able to survive the explosion either.

She felt the refusal to accept the statement well up within her, almost causing her to vocalize her disagreement. Her thoughts were once again running haywire, not calming down in the slightest. Please, not Percy. Please let him still be alive.

She couldn't explain why she wanted him back. Was it because she wanted to question him about his final act before he had jumped into the pit? No, that wasn't it. There was more to why she wanted to see him again, and it wasn't merely to have some closure.

The kiss he had given her before jumping into the pit still tingled on her lips, and she could clearly remember the emotions that had been present behind the action. Was that why she wanted him to return? Was she actually...

Her thoughts were cut off when she felt an aura emanate from the fissure present in the ground. She stumbled back as it washed over her, struggling to fight against the suffocating pressure. It wasn't as large as Tartarus', not by a wide margin, but it still heavily outclassed any of the Olympians present, and maybe even all of them put together. If she had to compare it to someone, she would have placed it close to the potential power she had sensed in Kronos while he was inhabiting the body of the son of Hermes, but she would have said that even at full strength, the Titan Lord would have been no match for the power she felt.

However, what was truly frightening about the aura was the sheer malice it contained. Even Tartarus hadn't possessed such hatred and raw fury in his aura. His had been a simmering presence, something that accentuated his already dark aura. This once seemed to be nothing but the emotion, smothering her in its claws without any route to escape.

She knew who was coming out of the pit well before she saw him. Only one being could possibly hold on to so much anger, and her thoughts were confirmed when the figure of the Demon King slowly rose out of the crack in the ground, its burning yellow pits staring at each of them in turn.

She felt the intensity in his gaze as he looked over each and every one of them, before he slowly descended to the ground. His wings folded up behind him, before he once again pinned them with his burning stare once more, never giving them even a moment of reprieve.

For a moment, she had a ridiculous hope that he would be on their side, especially since he had taken out Tartarus. She wanted him to shift back to Percy before them, letting them know that he was in control, that everything that had happened in the put had been an elaborate ploy he had cooked up to lower his opponent's guard before he struck the final blow.

Her hopes were dashed when he opened his moth, a furious hiss escaping it. His flaming pits trained onto the nearest demigod before he lunged, his claws flashing in the sunlight as it reached for the unlucky soldier's throat.

However, his attack was blocked by Hermes, who had been nearest to the demigod. His speed had barely been able to keep up with the Demon King's movements, but he had managed to intercept the blow with his sword, being pushed back a long way as the power behind the attack passed through him, almost causing the god to fall down from the impact.

Apollo was the quickest to respond, instantly yelling at the non-immortal demigods to back off, while telling the hunters to keep some distance and to attack with blunt arrows. The sun god looked adamant to subdue the Demon King and bring his best friend to the fore once more.

The second the demigods were out of range, Zeus lifted his Master Bolt, summoning a streak of lightning towards the raging figure of the Demon King who was barely being held back the combined forces of Apollo, Hephaestus and Ares. Artemis could tell that the blast was slightly less powerful than what her father was truly capable of, but it looked like even he was trying to hold back for Percy's sake, that was, if he was still there within the Demon King's mind. However, all it did was cause the King to stumble slightly, before instantly engaging his opponents once more.

She saw Poseidon attempting to rally the monsters that his son had commanded, asking them to provide some sort of assistance since they could probably be able to get though to the more primal side of the Demon King. However, none of them moved an inch, their eyes always locked onto the figure of the King, and she could swear that she saw fear in those orbs.

Hades pulled his brother back, trying to calm him down. Usually, Hestia would have taken the role, but she was just as frantic as the sea god after seeing how her son had fallen.

"It's no use, Poseidon," the Lord of the Dead roared. "They're far too fearful of the Demon King to even attempt stepping in his way. Right now, we need to focus on subduing that creature."

"That creature is my son," Poseidon bellowed in return, his desperate eyes picking onto the struggling figure of the Demon King. Artemis could see that the being was still tired out from his battle against Tartarus, causing him to be weaker than what she remembered from his battle against the lord of the pit.

"Not if we don't give him an opportunity to reassert control," Hades retorted, his onyx black eyes snapping over to where the Demon King was trying to simply tear through the Olympians. Hermes was already off to the side, recovering from a nasty blow to the head, and Ares was nursing a badly injured shoulder.

Zeus himself had stepped up, allowing his lighting to come forth at full force, not holding anything back after the initial attempt. Yet, they could tell that the massive arcs of lightning were little more than minor annoyances for the Demon King. He forged onward, shrugging of the blows without much fuss.

Hestia rushed forward, although not in an attempt to attack. Instead, Artemis could feel the soothing waves that emanated from her body as the goddess of the hearth approached the being that had overtaken her son's body.

Hestia grabbed hold of his arm in the midst of a swing, allowing her aura to wash over the Demon King. Artemis felt her heart leap into her throat once more as the two flaming pits turned to focus on the goddess of the hearth, the claws rising up, glinting in the sunlight.

However, he hesitated for a moment before lowering his arm, instead throwing her off, sending her flying backwards for almost five feet. Yet, it was far tamer than what Artemis had expected. Maybe the aura had an effect.

Or maybe, she thought, Percy wouldn't allow the Demon King to hurt her.

She finally charged forward, knowing that she had to jump in if they had to do anything. Apollo was struggling to keep up with the Demon King, and she felt terrified to wonder just how much Percy was restraining him at the moment. She realized that the slowness in his moments wasn't simply because of his fight against Tartarus after all.

She didn't know if her bow would be useful at the moment. Her hunters had tried their best, but he had simply shrugged the multiple impacts off as if they were nothing, not even looking over in their direction. She knew her own arrows would definitely be more powerful than any of theirs, but if he was able to tank so many blows coming one after the other, she didn't know if hers would be able to affect him.

Either way, she decided to try it, wanting to utilize any available opportunity before her. The bow materialised in her grasp, instantly trained towards him before summoning a blunted arrow. She wasn't going to risk using a sharp one, even after seeing his endurance. She didn't want it to hit him somewhere that was very vulnerable and kill him, because she could tell that if the Demon King died, so did Percy.

Her arrows smashed into him, yet didn't look to be any more effective than her hunters' barrage. She kept shooting all the while as she ran towards him, but he never even responded, focused as he was on Apollo before him. Her father had joined the duel as well, with Hades rushing over to assist them, but it looked bleak.

She was too close for her bow to be of any more use. Instantly, she allowed it to fade away before summoning her twin daggers, holding them tightly as she passed her brother, getting right into the Demon King's guard.

She used the hilts of the weapons along with the flat of the blade as much as she could, trying to not hurt him any more than she had to. However, it was obvious that her blows were not dealing much in terms of damage to the Demon King. He looked at her like she was just a minor pestilence, not worth either the time or effort for him to truly handle.

His claws came up in a sharp slice, causing her to tumble back to avoid the strike, the edge catching her shoulder to open a slight wound. She hissed in pain, but instantly returned to the fray, her speed and intensity never letting up.

It looked like she had finally managed to hold his attention for a slightly longer length of time than she had before, but it wasn't a good thing. She felt the anger bubble within his eyes, before his clawed hand came up in a furious slash, aiming for her throat. She barely managed to bring up her knife to intercept it, but she was still flung back a fair distance, crashing into the ground with a pained gasp.

She looked up, seeing her father and uncle engage the Demon King. He may have looked slightly diminutive next to Tartarus, but next to the Olympians, he was a towering figure, especially since they weren't in their godly heights. They could have grown to tower over him, but they knew that it slowed them down quite considerably, which would be suicide while facing against such a powerful foe.

The minor deities rushed in to assist as well, although quite a few of them stayed on the side-lines after the battle with the monsters. It had exhausted a large number of their forces, which cut down their numbers by a large margin. At the forefront were Annabeth, Nico, Hazel and Jason, among the few who were still able to continue.

The four ran forward, passing the two of the Big Three in an attempt to take the pressure off the Olympians. Zeus had begun to look tired from the constant barrage of lightning, although it didn't look to have affected the Demon King in the slightest. Hades had tried summoning skeletal forces to aid them, but the being they faced had cut through them with such ease that the Lord of the Dead decided that he was better off simply focusing on direct attacks.

However, it seemed like the four of them rushing forward had been the worst possible decision they could have made. The Demon King's eyes burned even brighter, a flicker of Greek Fire surrounding him at seeing the quartet. A furious shriek escaped his mouth as he whirled on them, his clawed hands once again swinging through the air as he reached forward the rend them apart.

Her eyes widened in realization as to what had sparked the intense reaction. He knows what they did to Percy, and he's feeding off of his emotions. She knew Percy had forgiven them, per se, but it was still going to take a long time for him to make peace with what happened, and until them, the feelings that would constantly be dredged up would never stop being opportune fuel for the Demon King.

The four minor gods were blasted backwards by a massive shockwave of pure, unbridled energy, something that truly put to scope just how outclassed they were at the moment. The other minor gods faltered in their steps, eyeing their opponent warily as small hints of green flame began to flicker into existence all around his body. The hunters had stopped shooting the moment Artemis had leapt into range, and hadn't started back up even after she left. To be fair, they hadn't been able to affect him much either way.

Artemis pushed herself up, forcing her body to ignore the slight discomfort from the impact. They had to stop him otherwise they stood a chance of losing Percy forever. She leapt into the fray once more, yet this time around, the Demon King was giving her his complete attention.

Even before she could make her move, his clenched fist impacted her stomach hard, forcing the air out in a heavy gasp. She didn't even have a second to recover before he'd grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the ground, the dirt and rock crumbling under the sheer force of the blow. Artemis could have sworn that she felt a rib or two crack under the strain.

She met his burning pits, seeing the rage that roiled within the depths. She could hear the screams from all around her, but they fell away as he lifted his hand into the air, the claws glinting in the sun. She knew that she didn't have a chance of throwing him off; he was simply far too strong for that.

Instead, she allowed her head to fall back, her surroundings oddly silent. She always had a will of iron, but she was also among the most pragmatic of the Olympians. She knew when she was outmatched, and this was a perfect example of such an occasion.

All she could do was look into his eyes with a desperate gleam in her own, hoping that Percy was still somewhere inside, no matter how futile it was. She needed to see if he had any control left, and if he didn't, she wanted him to know that she didn't blame him. And if he had control and still chose to do it... she didn't want to consider it.

For a moment, she thought she saw a hint of green, but it was instantly wiped away, leaving nothing but the cruel yellow that had previously been present. She saw the raised arm tense before swinging down, while she closed her eyes in defeat.

Kill... hurt... massacre...

There were so many beings present on the surface. So many weaklings. He wouldn't even have to try to take it over.

Yet, he had struggled in the battle, his weaker half trying its hardest to hold him back from harming anyone, especially those it cared about. He didn't want to listen to it, but for once, its will was too strong for him to easily overcome, despite him having recovered a fair amount of energy during his flight up.

He had struggled to hurt the puny being that had felt like he'd been touched by light, his aura bearing some similarities to the bright ball that hung in the sky. His other half easily recalled the name of the person, but he chose to ignore it, not wanting any distractions.

Just as difficult to fight had been the one that smelt of fire and the other that was quicker and lighter on his feet than any of the other lesser beings that surrounded him, forcing him to push himself beyond what would have been necessary in order to battle them, even if he did manage to defeat them relatively easily in the end.

For some reason, he hadn't struggled as much against the one that constantly threw the stinging bolts of light at him, but he could tell that there had been some bad blood between his weaker half and the other individual. There was a small amount of respect for his position, but none whatsoever for the person itself.

The one that was surrounded by the stench of death was noticeably harder to battle than the previous one, but not as much as the other three. He was beginning to understand exactly how the difficulty varied from person to person. It definitely wasn't based on their own strength, he was far above them in that category. No, what truly mattered was how much his other half cared about them.

Love... trust... weak...

It had been the strongest when the one with all the warmth surrounding her had grabbed hold of him, trying to calm him down. He had felt the soothing waves she had attempted to project towards him, however, all it did was make him even angrier than before, at the thought of such a weak being trying to bend him to her will.

He had gone to rip her very throat out, but his other half had intervened with a ferocity he hadn't expected from it. The protest had been so vicious and vehement that what had initially been a lethal attack had been watered down to him simply shrugging her off before turning his attention towards the next threat.

Another one that had come close was when he was fighting the silver-eyed one, and had gone to rip her throat out once again, but his weaker half had slowed him down enough for her to respond to it and get her dagger in its way. She had already been annoying him with the constant hail of arrows, and all it did was aggravate him enough to focus on her for a moment in order to attempt dispatching her.

He had once again been locked in combat with both the wielder of the stinging bolts of light and the one that reeked of death when he saw four others charge in, their pitiful auras even weaker than the two before him, and that too by a massive margin. It wouldn't even have been a challenge for him to subdue them, no matter how much his other half attempted to subdue his emotions.

However, for once, his other half tried nothing of the sort. All he could feel from it was a deep seated pain, along with a weary acceptance when he saw the features of the four. It prompted him to quickly scrounge about in his other half's memories since he couldn't clearly discern their faces, drawing forth something that made his blood boil.

He saw how they had treated his weaker half, but it didn't matter to him either way. He had no cares about how others treated it, but it seemed like his other half was a subject of their ever changing whims. However, he noticed how close his weaker part had come to ending his own life, which would have meant that he would have died as well.

A furious rage welled up within him at the thought. They had almost caused him to die, and they had gotten away with it! He wasn't going to allow them to escape easily. No, he was going to make them suffer.

Hurt... burn... maim...

The anger washed over him once more, the fire igniting within his being, his vision tinted completely red once again. His power grew wildly, before the green flames he was so familiar with once again surrounded his frame. He didn't even give the four a chance to retaliate before he swiped his claws towards them, with only the quick actions of their leader preventing her from being skewered alive. Still, the four of them were flung back, the momentum of his blow carrying her forward until she crashed into the other, sending all of them tumbling away.

He was about to charge after them once more, intent on making them suffer, when the silver eyed one launched herself at him again. This time, he didn't hold back, despite the frantic protests of his other half. He had just directly grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the ground, his grip on her throat unrelenting.

He had raised his hand, ready to finish what he had started, when she met his eyes, an emotion filling her silver orbs that he couldn't, nor had the inclination to, identify. However, his weaker half certainly did, because it actually managed to push itself to the forefront for a moment before he was able to push it back down.

Blood... flesh... death...

He tensed his arm, preparing to end it in one final blow. It looked like even she had realised the futility of her attempt as she slowly closed her eyes in defeat, her head leaning back as she accepted her fate.

A maniacal grin spread across his face at the sight of his enemy looming so thoroughly defeated, only second to his love of seeing the terror on the faces of his foes. He brought down his hand, ready to deliver the final blow on the downed opponent before him, when he felt his other half hold him back.

Unlike before, when all the interruptions had been merely influencing his actions in a way for benefiting the others, this time around, his other half burst forth with a fury that took even him by surprise, and even more shocking, he couldn't feed off of it.

He struggled against the sudden steel grip of his other half, desperately wanting to end her right then and the, but he was incapable of it. It should have been impossible for him to be restricted so. He was immensely more powerful than his other half, and it baffled him as to how he wasn't able to simply overpower it once more.

You're only physically stronger, not mentally, whispered a voice in his head, causing him to feel a hint of panic. Never before had his other side been able to converse so openly after he'd taken control, but it seemed like trying to hurt the woman before him had caused something to snap within his other half, bringing its entire mental fortitude to the fore.

He could see that she had opened her eyes, a look of shock and confusion written across her face. He hissed in rage, attempting to lunge forward once more, but his other half pulled him back yet again, this time pushing into his mind even harder, trying its level best to invade every single part of him.

He shrieked in pain, not even noticing that his quarry had shuffled back, a small amount of understanding dawning on her face when she saw the conflict present in each movement of his. His eyes finally returned to her, but before he could even make a move, his other half lunged forward within his mind once more.

NO! It yelled, causing him to roar in discomfort. You will not touch her!

He could sense a feeling emanating from his other half that he couldn't identify, but it was powerful enough for it to stand toe to toe against him somehow. The battle for dominance between the two of them still raged on within the mindscape, yet he could feel his control slowly slipping as his weaker half somehow managed to slowly reassert control, trying to force him back down.

No... stay... hunt... he thought desperately, trying to hold on to his control over his mind.

Not your mind, mine, it whispered, and he could tell that it was becoming stronger and stronger, while he was getting weaker and weaker. You will never be able to harm her again.

He struggled against it, but suddenly felt something heavy settle on top of him. It was warm, but was slowly heating up, causing him to screech in pain. He could feel his bones shifting once more, a sign that he had well and truly lost the battle, no matter how desperately he tried to hang on.

As he slipped away, he could feel the evil substance that had begun to infect his other half's blood begin to stir up once more. He could only hope that he would be able to reassert control over his body once more before it was too late.

Artemis had never been more shocked in her immortal life, even when she had witnessed first-hand Percy's transformation into the Demon King. She had believed him to have been lost to the grip of the creature, but when she hadn't felt the painful bite of claws in her neck, she had opened her eyes, only to see a small portion of the sickly yellow flames in the King's eyes be replaced by green and red.

She had moved backwards, trying to put as much distance between her and the being as possible, when it released a sharp scream, grabbing its head as if it were in agonising pain. It had fallen to its knees, trying to hold itself together, but it had failed miserably. She could see the spasms in its muscles from time to time, while the few flames of Greek Fire that had been present in its body had been completely snuffed out, leaving nothing.

She could only watch as the Demon King slowly hunched over, startled when she saw a heavy golden net land over the figure, glowing softly. The being hadn't reacted at first before screeching in agony, and she could see the smoke that arose from the area of contact between it and the net.

Her head snapped to the side, her eyes fixated on a very worried looking Hephaestus. He was clenching his fingers tightly, almost enough to draw blood from his palm.

"The net was the last resort," he muttered. "It's supposed to burn those it contacts if they are evil, and will weaken them considerably. I'm hoping that it gives Percy enough time to take control back, since he's already fighting against it. The pain should stop the moment he finally gets control back."

She didn't interrupt his rambling, knowing that it was a coping mechanism of the forge god's. She only responded after he was done. "Couldn't you have done it before? Did you have to wait for so long before you did it?"

He shrugged his shoulders helplessly, looking even more lost than before. "He was too fast for me to catch. I didn't have the opportunity until now."

She accepted his words, choosing to once more focus on the being that had taken over Percy's body.

Its head snapped up to look at her, and she reeled back when she saw the pits completely filled with flames of red and green, and even they were dying down in intensity as time passed. What was even more telling, however, was the shift in emotions that were present in them. Now, all she felt was regret, although she didn't know for what. His head slipped down once more, before her attention turned to his body.

His wings had flared out, but were quickly shrivelling up, the edges slowly withering to dust before her very eyes. In under a couple minutes, the massive appendages had all but disappeared, not a trace of them left behind.

She could see his bone structure changing once more as his height slowly shrunk but his body fill out, returning to its former musculature. She would have been annoyed about him having lost his shirt, but it was offset by the worry about what he had been through at the moment. She watched as he finally returned to his original stature after what felt like ages, and she assumed that his face had also returned to its former structure.

She could see the burn marks on his back from the contact with the golden net, which had thankfully stopped glowing, just like Hephaestus said it would. Yet, her attention was drawn to the slow dripping of blood from his gut, something that looked almost as black as the blood of the Demon King.

The wound that Tartarus had inflicted with the Essence of Styx, she thought faintly. The Demon King had only suppressed it, not healed it.

His head rose up once more, and she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw that his eyes had returned to normal once more. They were once again the familiar orbs of sea green and orange red, the two colours swirling around within his iris.

He grinned weakly, opening his mouth to say something to her, but the words died on his lips. Before he could say anything, he slumped forward on the ground, rolling up to expose the horrific wound on his stomach. She could see the blackened blood leaking from it as Olympus descended into chaos once more.

He's finally dead! Yeah! But of course we ain't done, are we? We still got some stuff to work through.

Please review!

Now, answering a few questions.

To vikasmahajan191175: Well, Annabeth is basically a side character in this, and I haven't given any her development for the talk to have some impact. Thalia would be a much more likely option for that. As for chapter, after this, not more than 5. Shocker, I know. (And for those who want more Pertemis fluff, I got something, wait. That'll come later)

Now, no one's going to be revived. They died, they will stay that way. And as to why I gave so much development to Tanya only to kill her, well, I don't think a death would have been so impactful if I gave her barely anything, now would it?

Also, no clue why it's important, but anyways, I'm from India.

To PJIsthebest: I'm intentionally keeping that vague. You guys can theorize about it.

To Shadow: Every Friday, around 4-5 PM UTC.

To Guest: About the charm speak, Tanya couldn't do it. I changed my Gaea confrontation, so Piper wasn't trying to charm speak her. I figured that, while it may be effective on demigods, there's no way in fuck it would affect a being that powerful.

Aight, we done for the week. See y'all later!