Chapter 1: The Crusade

If you've read the books, you know how the universe is. These mythical deities known as Greek gods are real and they very much exist. They watch over the mortal world and sometimes even 'mingle' with mortals.

With that, existed demigods. Demigods have been around for centuries, since the beginning of the Greek civilization back in something something B.C. Some of those demigods live out to become famous people like Hercules, Perseus, Abraham Lincoln and Michael Jackson to name a few.

That last one was a son of Apollo.

Throughout the year, the existence of demigods are kept secret because mortals have trouble accepting the fact that some people are more special than them. Plus a clash between the two groups would not be pretty.

And yet, that is exactly what happens.

After the war with Gaia, Percy thought finally he was given a break. Finally he gets to spend some time with Annabeth. Finally, the world isn't under the threat of some homicidal deity.

And yet, the Fates figured that they could twist Percy's fate in a way that it would affect everything and the very foundation of the modern Greek civilization.

Scratch that, even the Fates couldn't come up with something so malicious. They wouldn't because their existence depends on it.

It all first started when a demigod was in a fight with a Hellhound down at Central Park. Normally, as routine as it could be, the Mist would distort the visions of mortals to hide the mythical world from the mortal consciousness. Except for the very few mortals who could see through the Mist, most won't even bat an eye to such an incident because of the Mist.

However, the Mist failed the demigods for the first time ever when everyone caught the incident in cameras to which it made nationwide attention.

The second incident when a Cyclops barged into a Dunkin Donut store and started to empty out the menu. The Mist was supposed to cover that up as well. Again, an incident like this normally wouldn't be a problem because the Mist would distort mortal vision and make them see things that are comprehensible to the mortal mind.

When the incident made it into the news, people started speculating as they usually do.

"It was bigfoot."

"It was aliens."

"It was part of a government experiment."

All kinds of theories and speculations popped up all over the Internet. However, one of them became more viral than the rest.

"Heathen gods."

At the appearance of Hellhounds, cyclopes, and other monsters of the Greek mythologies, people quickly put two and two together, concluding that other gods exist, other than the main ones that they believe in.

When this happened, Olympus went into DEFCON 1. Everyone pointed fingers at Hecate. She's the Goddess of the Mist. It was her duty to make sure that the Mist acts the way as it's supposed to. But Hecate denied that she did anything wrong in her job.

When asked in a meeting, Hecate said that she had no idea why this was happening. By her description, the Mist simply "didn't want to do its job". It was as if the Mist was an entity of its own.

This was later proven when no one had any power of the Mist. No gods could manipulate it, demigods had no control over it. It was as if, like Hecate said, the Mist had stopped working.

By the time the gods and demigods tried to do anything, it was too late.

The existence of the mythical Greek world has been exposed bare for the world to see.

When it first happened, no one knew what to do. It was as if the world found out that the Avengers had actually existed. They'd be like, what now?

After a brief discussion with the Romans, Valkyries, Magicians from the House of Ra, and a heated back and forth between the gods and demigods, Annabeth and Jason decided to go for the diplomatic approach.

During the UN Summit, the duo were present as representatives of the mythological world. Quite a big event, one that they were really nervous about since it was a discussion like none other.

In the aspect of explaining things to people, there was no one better than Annabeth. She had the knowledge and confidence similar to a leader of a nation. She was the best choice they could have gone for, other than the gods themselves who refused to be involved in "petty mortal conflicts".

Jason was also a leader. He has the charisma and authoritative aura that could grab the attention of the whole room. With him and Annabeth working together, no resolve could go unswayed.

Annabeth tried as best as she could to make them understand. The war in New York, the freak storm that is Typhon, the war with Gaia, the Triumvirate, and so on. Multiple incidents that mortals dubbed as an "act of nature" were actually caused by the mythological world.

The initial responses were a mix of confusion and bewilderment. Questions started flying around the room.

"How many of you are there?"

"Is this true?"

"Are you part of a military project?"

"Do you expect us to believe that?"

Valid questions, all of them. But none of it could be answered easily without it being actually believable. Annabeth explained as well as she could that they mean no harm. That their battle was more focused on the mythological side of existence, the ones that mortals are unfit or unable to handle.

If you know what human nature is like, then you probably know what's going to happen.

Mortals start to question if demigods are a threat. They question whether demigods really are part of humanity, or do they see mortals as the inferior species.

It was stupid, really. People are afraid of things that they know nothing of. They are afraid of things that are unfamiliar, things that are different, things that are not part of what they are used to. They believe that the way they do things is the right way.

There's a name for this.

Ethnocentrism. The belief that one's culture is superior to others.

The opinions on demigods went south very quickly. Discrimination arose amidst the conflict between mortals and demigods. But demigods could handle a bit of discrimination.

If it had been only that, they wouldn't have gotten into the situation they were in now.

Among the worst offenders when it comes to demigod discrimination were the religious people.

They called demigods an abomination. A form of heresy. A sacrilege to their beliefs. All religions claim that only their god or gods are considered as the true God. They claim that demigods are desecrating the name of religion and the name of God. In their eyes, demigods are rejects of Heaven and allies of Hell. Cast out of Heaven by the true God and believers of the whispers of the Devil. Only God should have powers. Not mortals.

It's a really fancy way of saying, "we're jealous our God doesn't give us cool powers to establish dominance over other people".

When the word of demigods being a potential threat spread out, the mortals panicked. When a bunch of people of similar background became a threat to the "normal" humans, the global public handled it in the best way they possibly could.

Genocide.

It didn't take long for them to create a device to detect demigods. Since demigods give out a smell to monsters, they figured that there was a way for them to use this as a way to discern demigods from mortals. Sure enough, a device was made to detect demigod auras.

Demigods were then targeted. Some were killed, some were captured. Satyrs have come back into Camp Half-Blood empty handed multiple times, all because the demigods that they were supposed to bring back home were killed. Dozens if not hundreds of demigods were unfortunate enough to not make it to camp.

As if monsters weren't enough to deal with, they have to deal with ethnocentric mortals as well.

Then, they discovered Celestial Bronze. The metal that could affect the mythological world.

This led to the event now known as the First Crusade.

With the help of volunteers and mercenaries, Camp Half-Blood was their first target. To say it was a fight is generous. It was swords versus guns. Bullets versus arrows. There was no way they were going to win. The Crusaders, as they called themselves, were very eager to kill the demigods.

The demigods were trained in ancient battle techniques against mindless monsters. These were mortals, trained in modern warfare. It was a lost fight to begin with. Plus there's the whole thing where Celestial Bronze can't hurt mortals.

There was no way for demigods to fight back as mortals ravaged their home.

Like as mentioned, genocide.

Needless to say, the casualties were immense. Camp Half-Blood suffered heavy losses. There were those who managed to survive by escaping, and those who were left behind are either dead or captured to be interrogated or experimented on.

All in the name of their God.

It was cruel and barbaric. If the gods of the mythological world wanted to intervene, they didn't tell. There were no signs from them, not even a cryptic dream. It was as if every way of communication was cut off from Olympus.

Camp Jupiter received the same fate. This was the Second Crusade. They stormed into Camp Jupiter with no hesitation. While the Romans put up a good fight, it was still too much.

And so, the demigods are now reduced to somewhat of an endangered species. They live in hiding, away from the attention of the mortal world. There were no more safe havens for demigods like Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter.

Which brings us to two years later.

All they could do now is run while being under constant threat of mortals and monsters alike. Living in the shadows and in fear. The Greek demigods had set up a small camp near . . . nowhere. They had fled so deep into the forest for several days with Crusaders hot on their tail that keeping track of where they were going seemed like a minor thing compared to staying alive.

Percy stared at the campfire that they had lit up. The tents they had set up looked like they had been shredded by a Hellhound, because that's what happened. Since Camp Half-Blood was attacked out of nowhere, there was no time to grab supplies or anything. Food was running dry as they resorted to hunting whatever wild animal they found, hoping that Artemis would forgive them for killing animals in the wild.

Not that she would notice, just like the other gods.

Percy could hear the sounds of the forest with the river running rapidly a few meters away from their camp. He sighed tiredly as he looked around their campsite. Six ragged tents in a semi-circle around the campfire, each housing two demigods at most. Which means only a dozen of them here. Percy didn't know where the rest of his friends were. Some of them are on the run. Some are hiding. Others . . . Percy just hoped that they'd be okay.

There was no way of contacting anyone else. Iris Messaging doesn't work and cellphones are out of the question.

Annabeth sat next to him. Even with everything that's been going on, she still managed to look beautiful. "Hey," She smiled.

"You should be resting," Percy said. "That bullet wound won't heal overnight."

Annabeth got shot on the shoulder during their last encounter with Crusaders. Apparently leather armor was not bulletproof. Go figure.

Demigods only have Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold weapons, which again, does nothing to mortals.

"I'm fine, Percy." Annabeth said as she winced when she sat down. "Besides, there are bigger things to worry about."

Percy knew she was right. Where are they going to go next? They were being hunted by everyone on Earth. No place is safe. Percy had half a mind to call his mom, but he knew better. If they ever found out about his mom, she's going to be in trouble. The less she knew, the better.

He just hoped she's safe.

"You know, I would have never imagined being in a situation like this." Percy sighed. "What do we do now?"

Annabeth sighed as she rested her head on Percy's shoulder. "I don't know, Percy. We've fought against monsters, Titans, Gods, and even Giants. And yet, I don't know what we should do against . . . humans."

A dark thought appeared at the back of Percy's head. "We could fight back," Percy said.

The words seemed to make the atmosphere heavier. "I don't know, Percy. It's different when it's people. Monsters get reincarnated. Titans, Giants and Gods are immortal so they don't really die. But people? It just feels wrong. If we kill them, it's straight to the Underworld. Maybe to the Fields of Punishment or Asphodel." Annabeth shook her head. "Putting someone through all that. I just don't think I can do it."

Percy nodded silently. Annabeth did have a point. Even during the war with Kronos in New York, Percy tried not to harm the enemy demigods. He would try to injure or cripple them, but never kill. It's never easy to kill people.

"Get some sleep, Wise Girl." Percy smiled as he kissed her on the top of her head. "I'll join you after my watch finishes."

Annabeth smiled. "Don't snooze on us, Percy. We're counting on you."

We're counting on you.

Those words echoed in Percy's thoughts throughout the night. Percy had been their leader at one point. Since he was the universally agreed most powerful demigod there is, the responsibility lies on him to keep everyone safe. Everyone looked up to him as someone they could rely on.

But Percy was having doubts. He could barely keep himself out of harm's way, let alone eleven more lives.

Percy tended to the campfire in front of him. It was probably a few hours after Annabeth had gone to sleep that Percy heard rustling in the forest. He reached for Riptide and scanned the area. There were no movements, but the forest had gone silent. No critter sounds, no owls, nothing. The only sound he can hear is the sound of the river.

Percy tiptoed towards the edge of the camp. His heart thumped against his chest. He could hear rustling once again, this time even closer. He gripped his sword tighter.

He lunged on the other side of a tree, hoping to catch who it was only to find himself face to face against the tip of an arrow.

"Percy?" A familiar voice called.

Percy looked towards his attacker to see Thalia. "Thalia?" He was brought out of his shock with a very tight hug from Thalia.

"Thank the gods!" Her voice was a mixture of relief and exhaustion. "I was worried about you! When I heard about the camp being destroyed, I thought . . . I thought . . ." She started to sob.

"It's okay, Airhead," Percy chuckled. "I'm okay."

Thalia managed a laugh. "That's good. If you died, I would've gone to Underworld to kick your ass one last time."

Percy smiled. "Are you alone?"

Thalia shook her head. "The Hunt sets up camp just upriver. I was hunting for food when I found your camp." Then, her expression darkened. "The Crusaders got us good. Our numbers are halved and no one is in fighting condition."

"Is Lady Artemis with you?" Percy asked. He was hoping to get some answers from the gods.

Thalia's expression morphed from anger to sadness. "She is, but . . ." Thalia sighed sadly. "She's incapacitated. She doesn't talk. She doesn't leave her tent. When we tried to talk to her, she just stared blankly into nothing."

Percy sighed in disappointment. "I couldn't get a hold of my father either. It's like Olympus is in complete lockdown."

Thalia nodded. "Why is this happening, Percy? We helped save the world twice and they fucking turn on you. How is that fair?"

"It isn't." Percy said. "It's never fair with demigods."

"Fair point," Thalia said. "Do you have a plan? Surely there's a way to fix this."

"Well, I told Annabeth that I plan on fighting back, but she didn't sit too well with it. I mean, she has a point. It's human lives we're talking about."

"Annabeth?" Thalia had a confused look on her face. Then, some kind of realization hit her. "Oh."

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing." Thalia said. She looked at Percy with concern, but quickly shook it off. "So, you want to combine camps? I mean, I know the girls wouldn't like it, but they can't argue. With everything that's been going on, we're going to have to stick together."

Percy looked back at his own miserable campsite. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. We'll get moving at sunrise."

Thalia nodded. Just before they were about to say their goodbyes, Percy could hear a loud shout coming from somewhere in the forest. "Keep looking! They're around here somewhere!"

Shit.