Mount Tam
San Francisco

At times like this, Eris hated the ancient rules that forbade the gods from directly interfering in affairs of humans and their fellow deities. She was a being forged from the worst bitterness of the earth; unlike her counterpart, Harmonia, who had seemingly been born with the childishly naive notion of a world of peace, love, and sunshine, Eris knew the reality. Humans were depraved by their nature, and the Olympians were little better with their inflated sense of self-importance.

People had always misunderstood Eris. Well, the few who even knew of and acknowledged her existence, that is. In this obscure dark deity who lived in the pit of Tartarus itself, they saw only one who loved strife, chaos, and discord for it's own sake. But to the goddess, these things weren't inherently evil, they were merely the natural order of the world. In fact they were necessary. For there can be no way to appreciate peace but to endure the suffering of war. For millennia since their divine births, Eris and Harmonia had maintained this delicate balance in accordance with the will of Olympus. The humans couldn't be allowed eternal peace, obviously, for then they would have no need for the gods. But nor could they be kept constantly cowering, for then no one would be there to offer the Olympians praise. It was an important job, Eris had always been assured by Hermes, the Olympian errand boy, and as far as Eris was concerned, their chief propagandist.

Hermes was known as the patron of thieves and tricksters after all, and Eris had to admit, he was good. For so long, he'd managed to keep her in the fold by making repeated promises of recogmition from Olympus. He would assure her that while the humans and gods feared her, in reality they appreciated the vitality of her role as the universal bad cop to Harmonia's good cop.

"Without you, the world descends into Chaos."

Those were the last words Hermes had spoken to her. The gods knew they couldn't afford to lose her support. It was right around the time of the second Great Prophecy. Eris was still a loyal little soldier for Olympus then, but soon that would all change.

Gaea was the catalyst. The earth mother spoke to Eris in dreams at first. Murmuring in tones almost too soft to hear the words that had dwelt within Eris for all these thousands of years. The frustration with the ignorance of man of her true worth, with Harmonia, with the indulgence and arrogance of the Olympians. Gaea wasn't telling Eris anything she didn't already know. She already knew she was nothing more than a pawn to the Olympians. But until now, she'd felt powerless. Now here was a primordial more powerful than every god in Olympus combined offering her a chance to finally remake the world in her own image. To not have live any longer under the boot of Zeus and his council of buffoons. It was an easy decision.

It had all gone so terribly well at first. Gaea's forces didn't even have to make a move, the Olympians and their half-blood underlings were doing all the work for them. Hera must have finally lost her godly mind, Eris had thought. Knowing that her fellow Olympians were no match for Gaea, and on the say so of an ancient prophecy, she had resorted in some misguided desperation to stealing the memories of Percy Jackson and Jason Grace, the greatest heroes of the Greek and Roman half-bloods, and swapping their places. It seemed she was hoping that the heroes would be able to mend the centuries old rift between the Greeks and Romans to unite them against Gaea. It was a foolhardy gamble that was certain to fail miserably.

Even when, against all odds, Jackson and Grace managed to actually bring the two sides together, Gaea's army still held all the cards. The giants were practically unstoppable, and Eris was finding new recruits all the time with her connections in the underworld. It should have added up to an easy victory. But those damned half-bloods just wouldn't give it up. Even though they must have known their efforts were futile, they still resisted. Eris didn't understand that. Why fight the inevitable? The world began with Gaea, and now it would end with Gaea. And Eris would be there, finally standing triumphantly over the gods of Olympus.

It was the seven of that prophecy. They had ruined everything. Somehow they'd managed to evade and defeat every obstacle thrown at them. No matter what Eris tried to divide them, their unity was too strong. She would have gladly appeared in full divine form and burned these insolent children into ashes, but Gaea's instructions were very clear: Percy Jackson needed to live so that his blood could be used to awaken her. And it had. For just a fleeting moment, victory was at hand, then it was oh so cruelly snatched away. The gods were typically unforgiving. Supposedly even Apollo, one of their own, had been cast out of the heavens to live with the mortals. But even that indignity was nothing compared to what Eris received for her treachery.

Hades was given free reign to inflict as many devious and tortourus punishments as he could conceive. And once he'd had his fun, Eris was cast back into the hellfire of Tartarus, where she writhe in agony for what felt like an eternity, forever burning, never dying. It had seemed like this would be her eternal fate until one day, she was suddenly whisked away to a grassy plain in a location she didn't recognize, or particularly care for. The sun was shining brightly while a light breeze gently brushed by, and somewhere off in the distance, people were talking and laughing. It disgusted Eris. Harmonia had been in charge for too long. Before she'd had time to stew on this however, she became aware of another, familiar presence. Hermes.

"You brought me out."

Hermes shrugged. "The council has decided that your punishment is sufficient. You are to return to your duties effective immediately."

Typical, Eris had thought. The Olympians had let her burn until it was convenient for them to bring her back.

"Too much sunshine and rainbows for Zeus, huh?" She quipped sarcastically.

Hermes sighed. "You know how it is, Eris. The gods are like the weather, they're-"

"Yes, yes, I know," Eris snapped in irritation. "They're always changing. They don't seem to change in the way they trample over the other gods. Over me. Just because we don't have a throne on Olympus doesn't make us any less important."

Hermes gave a look that said that he'd known this would come up. "The Olympians are angry, Eris. And in all fairness, you've brought this on yourself this time. You supported Gaea."

"I stood up for myself. And since you've come all this way to tell me that, I have a reply, message boy. You can tell Zeus that when the time comes, he'll be sorry that he and his godly lackeys made an enemy of me."

"Eris-"

But Eris dematerialized and vanished within a split second, leaving a bewildered Hermes standing alone.

"Lady Eris?"

The unexpected voice brought the goddess back to the chamber of underground rock that she now called home. A single figure stepped forward from the darkness, appearing only as a shadow at first. Slowly its features became more defined until a teenage boy finally stopped just feet away from the goddess. He looked just like an ordinary kid if you ignored the wickedly edged bronze sword hanging from his belt. His brown hair was swept to the side, giving him a distinct California boy look, although the stormy blue eyes may have ruined that image. He didn't look like a trained killer, in fact his lean, pale body barely looked capable of wielding a sword. Yet what had always made this boy stand out to Eris was his confidence. The way he believed in his cause with his whole heart and refused to allow anyone or anything stand in his way. It was so unlike the scared little boy she had first met om the street all those years ago. She had taught him well.

"Duncan, you have something to report, darling?"

"Yes ma'am. It seems our spies have detected movement out of Camp Half-Blood."

Eris tried to mask her shock. Camp Half-Blood was supposed to be finished. After the demise of the seven, they'd been completely demoralized. Not to mention their numbers were dwindling by the day. And yet, if they were really daring enough to leave the safety of their magical borders into the territory occupied by Eris's army, that could only mean one thing...

After realizing that Eris wasn't going to respond, Duncan spoke again to fill the pregnant silence.

"...Lady Eris, we believe that the half-bloods are embarking on a quest, and their target is here. More specifically, Harmonia."

Eris finally managed to force herself to say something. "How could this be? They already tried, and they failed, they were all killed where they stood. If even the legendary seven heroes couldn't defeat me, then who can? It's a suicide mission!"

In fact, the more Eris thought about it, the less worried she became. She'd already taken the best the Olympian loyalists could throw at her. Her army had battled the greatest heroes of Olympus and won. Surely this was merely a desperation tactic, a last ditch delusion.

Duncan shifted uncomfortably. "They have a prophecy from the Oracle. And there are reports...that Perseus Jackson is leading them."

Percy Jackson

No

He's dead

This is impossible

It was only now that Eris realized that she was saying all these thoughts aloud, and it brought her back to her senses. She could not appear weak. Percy Jackson was just one man. He could be killed just as easily as any other. It happened once. Now for whatever reason he was back, so there was nothing to do but get rid of him again. Eris forced herself to smile. Perhaps this might be an opportunity after all.

"I'll alert all units across the country to be on the lookout. We'll stop them, Lady Eris."

Eris stood and slowly walked closer to Duncan. The boy now nearly stood taller than her. And while Eris knew she could technically turn into a 100 foot giant if she wanted to, she couldn't help but wonder if this was what it felt like for a human to have pride in her son. Eris had already sworn long ago that she would never have a child with any mortal, but Duncan was special. He was her most loyal soldier, looked up to her. And after all, she had practically raised him. Trained him to be the machine-like warrior he was today. That's why she would entrust no one else to eliminate the nuisance of Percy Jackson once and for all.

"Don't you see, darling? This is your moment. All the years of training have prepared you, and only you, for this mission."

"You want...me to go?"

Eris's lips cracked into a thin grin. "You're ready. I know because I taught you everything you know. Take whomever you want with you. Take whatever mode of transportation you find most comfortable. Take whatever weapons you need. I leave all the planning to you."

Duncan took all this in silently. "It's an awful lot of responsibility."

"You can handle it."

"I'm only one of many, Lady Eris."

Eris shook her head. "Nonsense, my boy. You're the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Your sword will be the end of Percy Jackson and the beginning of a new era, one where we decide our own destinies, free of the oppression of Olympus."

He nodded. "Your trust in me won't be misplaced."

"I know it won't, darling. I know."

To be continued...