Percy talking

Percy thoughts

Adamos talking

Adamos thoughts

Chapter 41

Percy the Exterminator

"I can't believe your actually doing this." Adamos said with a sigh as he watched me punch the staples needed to display the product of my hard work.

"Yeah, well I need to find people to help me and this was the best way I could think of. I mean it worked for Mr. Costani who owns the deli down the street."

Just a bit earlier I had been conscripted by my wonderful Aunt Hestia to handle a pesky ant infestation that is now plaguing the camp. The catch is that these ants can range from the size of a small dog to a medium sized bear and there are a fuck ton of them, so Hestia requires me to at least have some back up with me when I go to kill them. Which leads me to my current activity.

Stapling a bunch of ads I made around camp.

"The Mr. Costani also hired his deadbeat nephew to twirl a sign." Adamos pointed out.

"Other than Mr. D I don't know any deadbeats and I highly doubt Lou would be willing to learn sign twirling." I say as I place the last staple onto the wooden post. "And there." I then took a step back in order to admire my handy work.

On the post was a handmade sign made from some of the good papers that go into the printer in the Big House. It's a rather well-done sign with a message that read…

Calling all Heroes!

Your camp needs your assistance!

There is an ant infestation that needs culling!

If you wish to join please meet Percy Jackson in front of the Poseidon cabin at 11 am.

Bring your own equipment. If you don't have any, we can grab some from the armory before departure.

There was even a picture of a myrmeke that I drew by hand at the bottom of the page along with a few things they need to know about the ant-like monster. Things like that they can spew nonlethal acid, had really strong shells, etc.

"I advise you to rethink any future careers in advertisement."

"This is totally going to work." I say confidently, undeterred by the criticism.

"It had better since you made over a hundred copies."

I felt the heat spread on my face as I looked around at the numerous flyers stapled around the camp. "It's not my fault that printers aren't made dyslexic friendly."

"But it is your fault for pressing the buttons I told you not to press." Adamos responded and I felt my blush grow.

"Just shut up." I snapped as I turned to walk away.

It was still a few hours before the meeting time there were a few things I needed before we could get going. Things from nectar and ambrosia, to equipment. But before all of that I needed to grab my sidekick before she curses me for not personally inviting her.

Ordinarily I would have head straight to the Hermes cabin in order to drag the tiny sorceress out with me but due to recent events she had been delegated to an old shed outside of the arts and crafts area in her free time. According to her it may or may not be because of a few of her rituals and experiments going wrong when she did them in the Hermes cabin.

Cases of intense vertigo and literal sticky fingers among other things were enough for the campers to complain to Mr. D. His solution was to shove her in the dusty shed and away from the other campers so they don't get infected with whatever she was working on and come to him.

"Lou!" I bang on the door with my fist. The quiet approach doesn't work with her as she sometimes gets lost in her own little world when working on something. "Lou!" I shout again, this time doubling both force and volume.

I could hear the sound of shuffling, a few things falling along with muffled curses before the door to the shed violently opened. A bleary eyed and disheveled Lou Ellen leaned against the doorframe; her black hair was a like a bird's nest as it stood up with a few leaves stuck in it. She was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday but they were wrinkled beyond belief, and indented on the side of her face were a paragraph worth of words.

"Lou? Did you sleep in the shed last night?"

The small sorceress must have really been out of it as she rubbed the bleariness from her eyes.

"Oh, hey Percy." Her sleep addled mind seemed to finally reboot enough to recognize me. "Come on in." She said with a yawn as she stepped back into her shed.

I followed after and actually had to take a second to process what I was looking at. I stepped back outside and looked around, making sure that this was exactly the same shed before stepping in.

Why?

Because the damn thing was bigger on the inside. From the outside the shed was barely around seven tall with ten-by-ten parameters, but the inside was easily double the height and with five times the space. It was mostly empty with a single half full bookshelf and a few desks with various things on them, but towards the center it was clear that Lou was attempting a ritual of some kind as there was a half-done magic circle with the ingredients and instructions laid around it.

"How did you do this?" I couldn't help but ask aloud. "This is some Doctor Who shit."

"Magic runes and enchantments interwoven into the walls and foundations, pretty experimental currently." Lou explains. "I'm really hoping they don't break and everything just compresses together. Anyways what's up?" Lou asked as she sat down at a desk that had an open book. It was probably where she slept last night, if the words on her face meant anything.

"I need your help taking care of a monster infestation in the forest." I say as I still look around at the room.

"Sure." She casually agrees without hesitation. "Though I gotta ask why you aren't taking care of this yourself. You know, go full avatar style and earth and water bend them back to Tartarus."

"Not this time." I shake my head. "The person who asked me to do this made me promise to go with a group and I can't really do either of those since we are possibly going underground."

"Makes sense I guess." Lou says as she grabs her crescent blade and a satchel. "Don't want to collapse the tunnels or something. Anything else I gotta know before we head off on our next great adventure."

"No," I shook my head. "We just need a larger group. There are apparently quite a lot of these things and we could easily be overwhelmed." I explain before an excited smile appears on my lips. "That and I need others to help sort through all the treasure these things like to collect."

I could practically see Lou's eyes sparkle at the mention of treasure, all forms of exhaustion and tiredness disappearing as if she had downed a pitcher of coffee. Her head twists around to the entirety of the bare room we are in and I could tell she was just imagining what she could put in here. I was almost worried that she was going to give herself whiplash from how fast she was going.

"Come on!" The small girl power walks over and practically drags me out of the shed with surprising strength. "There's no treasure like the present!"

"H-Hold on Lou!" I couldn't help but laugh at her eagerness. "We aren't leaving till two. I'm still looking for other campers to join."

"We don't need them. We can totally do this ourselves." She still tries to drag me away but this time my feet weren't budging. "Come on-ugh-Percy! Mama needs a Drakon hide grimoire and they are expensive."

"Lou." I say with an amused look making her sigh as she relents. "Thank you. Now we still have an hour left so I need to grab somethings. Can you get some cases of ambrosia and bottles of nectar and then meet me in front of my cabin in an hour?"

She gives a quiet grunt of affirmation and I, now satisfied, walk off after messing with her wild hair. She tries to swat me but my legs are longer than hers so I was able to outpace her until she gave up.

Once I was by myself, I headed directly to the armory for some essential pieces of equipment in taking on the monster ants.

Now the biggest tools I grabbed aren't normally used as weapons amongst the campers as they are generally too unwieldy, but against the monster ants they would be a perfect choice.

War Hammers

The celestial bronze war hammers usually sat in the back of the armory collecting dust as compared to the other weapons as the only ones to use them are either the Hephaestus campers and a few of the Ares campers. I have personally had to face a few of those campers and have felt how hard they can hit even if I was wearing armor.

No one was there to stop me as I dragged the plastic garbage bins that were used to hold the war hammers back to my cabin.

It seemed like a serous oversight that I was just able to take all of our war hammers without having to ask.

The other thing that I had to grab was few cases of Greek fire bombs. The notoriously combustible green liquid practically put the fear of Tartarus into me as I listened to it slosh in its container. Adamos had told me that I was very fire-resistant multiple times, but this stuff burns in water and I didn't fancy seeing if I could endure long enough until whatever fuel this stuff uses burns out.

Due to the slow pace that I was going with the Greek fire bottles it took me a while longer to return to my cabin, though at some point while I was retrieving the Greek fire and returning, I already had a group standing in front of my cabin.

I was expecting to only get a handful of volunteers, maybe five at first and a few stragglers if I decided to push the meeting time a little further. What I wasn't expecting was for the thirty plus people to be standing in front of my cabin with most of them looking ready for war.

"This was not what I was expecting." I though as I walked around the crowd to the steps of my cabin, making sure to avoid people so someone doesn't accidentally hit me and make me drop the fire. "I was expecting a few people to come on short notice but this is practically a battalion."

"Actually, this would either classify as a large squad or a smaller platoon. A battalion would have hundreds of soldiers in its ranks." Adamos corrected. "Although I have to agree that this is a far greater turnout than I expected."

I looked over the group of armed people from my elevated position, trying to put names to faces and figure out who I'm dealing with, all the while beating down that small pang of anxiety that usually comes with being the center of attention of a large crowd. I had lead groups before during my quests, but those had always been small groups.

The first of those gathered that I notice wasn't a single person but rather an entire group, one that was comprised of the entirety of the Demeter cabin. The, I believe twenty-seven, demigods were all wearing full armor with their weapons strapped to their sides. Their faces were set in vicious glares that would have fit right in with the Ares cabin before the capture the flag games.

I almost asked Adamos if I was in the twilight zone.

The next I noticed were the Stoll twins as their laughter at some joke one of them probably told easily made them the loudest, followed by Beckendorf and one of his sisters from the Hephaestus cabin, Nyssa I think her name is. Lou stood at the front checking things from her bag,probably the ambrosia and nectar stores, her curved weapon sat on her opposite hip in a sheathe. The last ones I found were Annabeth and Thalia, with Annabeth practically glued to the Daughter of Zeus, speaking quietly yet animatedly. They both wore armor yet I couldn't see the spear or shield that Thalia was using earlier anywhere near her.

"Alright let's do this." I said to no one but myself. "Everyone!" I shouted, drawing all the attention fully to me. "I'd like to thank you all for volunteering on such short notice. I was…actually not expecting this big of a turnout."

"An infestation like this can't go on any longer!" Katie Gardner, the leader of the Demeter cabin, surprisingly shouted out with vigor, one that was matched by the unified shout of her cabin. "These damn insects need to be exterminated with extreme prejudice!"

"Okaaaayyy." It was still weird to see the same campers that talked to the plants so aggressive. "Your…enthusiasm is appreciated. And the same goes for the rest of you." I said trying to get back on track. "I assume that all of you have read the fliers posted around campus and know what we are up against."

This earned me a nod from everyone.

"Now normally this is something that is taken care of by Chiron, however due to recent…events he has his hands full fixing things around camp." I could tell that the similar looks that they were all sporting showed they shared my sentiment about Tantalus, with only Thalia as the confused odd one out. I was a little surprised no one told her anything. "As such it is up to us to deal with the problem ourselves."

"Has Chiron approved of this?" Annabeth said as she stepped forward. She had a slightly challenging look to her. "Or rather does he even know about this?"

"No, uh, no he does not." I say a little sheepishly. "This is more of an…initiative kind of thing." It took a bit of effort to resist the urge to scratch my neck out of discomfort. "This should be no different than going into the forest to kill monsters anyways so we should be fine." I say in the most convincing voice I can. Most of the other campers seemed to either be convinced or just not care, with only Annabeth herself not being okay with this.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to say more Thalia stepped in with a hand on her shoulder. A few silent words passed between them that I couldn't hear but from their body language I could guess that Thalia trying to convince Annabeth to go along while Annabeth wasn't having it. Their conversation only took a minute before Annabeth seemingly crumbled under Thalia's words though she still looked displeased.

"We're all good." Thalia said nonchalantly. "We're ready to kill some ants."

I nodded in thanks and turned back to the gathered warriors. "Now before we leave, I will be handing out a few items to you all. The ants are supposed to have tough shells—"

"Exoskeletons." Annabeth muttered loudly.

I felt a pang of annoyance but I ignored the interruption. "So, I got these," I gestured to the bins containing the war hammers. "To help us kill the ants along with a case of Greek fire bombs for us to use. The plan was originally to draw the ants out in waves and just kill them over and over but we have a surplus of hands for this."

"You want to use a larger group as bait," Thalia said loudly as she stepped forward, gaining the attention of all present. "Maybe use a smaller group to go into the nest with the bombs."

"Uh yeah actually." I said. I was prepared to go further in depth on the plan but Thalia basically summarized it. "That's kind of it. Lou and I will be able to map out the entire structure of the nest, we've done it before so we know what we are doing." I turned to the daughter of Hecate and she gave me a thumbs up. "Once we're inside we'll have two objectives. The first is to plant the bombs around the nest, the second is to steal their horde of treasure."

The moment that the word left my mouth the shouting began. Most of the campers arguing that it was unfair that many of them would be left out while Lou and I went in. I let them shout for a minute just to get their grievances out in the open before stomping my foot on the ground. It took a bit of effort to keep it in one spot but it worked and the ground shook beneath their feet.

The sudden motion forced them to stay quiet so they could focus on their balance allowing me the chance to speak. "Are you done?" I asked with a raised brow. No one spoke up and I took that as my cue to continue. "Now many of you think it's unfair for such a small portion of us to get the treasure, however no one is keeping a single thing." I say earning me wide eyes from those gathered. They tried to open their mouths to protest more but I spoke quickly. "Any and all fortunes that we find are going to be donated to the camp, hopefully to build a new cabin for the campers." I said tossing that last bit on at the end. In all honesty I never knew what I wanted to do with the treasure, figuring that I would think of it when I had it, but with this large group all volunteering to help there was no way I could distribute it in a way that everyone was going to be happy.

"Good. Having a common goal is necessary for larger groups, especially spontaneously formed ones like this."

"I'm honestly just came up with it." I fully admit. "Although I am kind of bummed that I won't keep any of the treasure now."

"You still have an entire chest to yourself as well as a pirate ship. That's far more than anyone else has."

"Still sucks. Stupid mouth, saying things before I can think them through."

"Does anyone have any objections?" I ask, knowing that no one was going to object to making the camp a better place. "Good. Lou and I are already on the front. Stoll's, you in or out."

"Well when you put it like that…" Travis spoke only for Connor to finish. "There's no way we could say no."

"We'll be staying behind." Katie spoke up with the entire Demeter cabin behind her. "The trap group will be drawing the most ants, right?" She asked and I nodded. Her face shifted into one that promised gratuitous amounts of violence in the future. "Good. We'll kill as many of those little bastards as possible."

"The two of us will be staying behind as well." Beckendorf said as he stood by Nyssa. "Small spaces ain't our thing, and we have turrets we've been meaning to rest from all those guns you gave us last year."

I looked over to Thalia and Annabeth, the only other two campers left in our entire group who hadn't decided on where they were going. The both of them were speaking in hushed yet animated tones, and going by their expressions they were disagreeing on something. After a moment it seemed like Annabeth reluctantly gave in if the victorious smirk and frown they each had meant anything.

"I'll be staying behind to coordinate an actual defense." Annabeth spoke with an edge of irritation in her voice, clearly no liking whatever they had discussed. Thalia just remained quiet; a challenging smirk spread across her face. "My cap wouldn't do much good against ants anyways."

"Everyone knows what they are doing, so just grab what you need and we'll get going."

One by one they each grabbed the tools that I gathered, adding them to their own equipment, with most of the hammers going to the trap team with the Stoll's being the only ones to take them in the forward group. Some of the campers went back to the armory or their cabins to grab their own equipment or whatever they thought would work. Beckendorf took a few of the Greek fire bombs to use in the case of emergencies but left the majority of them with myself and the forward group. I grabbed my own backpack for when we find the treasure.

Lou took the effort to enchant them with a basic timer on each of them so that they could all detonate at the same time.

Once everything was finished and all of us were ready, I took the front and lead them straight into the forest. I had come across the nest earlier this summer when I was setting up the bounded field around camp. It was located in the southernmost part of the forest away from the camp, past the Fist of Zeus and near a large stone hill.

It didn't take long before we encountered our first ant, sign that the problem really was going since we hadn't even made it to the Fist of Zeus.

The thing was barely up to my knee, no larger than a medium sized dog and was walking around with a large piece of wood in its mouth.

"Hold up." I whispered to everyone. With a single hand motion, I called them all forward to see the ant. "We have a single ant up front."

"Do we really need this many people?" Connor asked as we watched through the bushes as the ant sifted through branches on the ground. "It's kinda smaller than I thought."

"That's because it is on the smaller side." I comment. "These things are supposed to be able to grow to the size of a small bear."

"We can leave it for now. It should lead us back to its—" Annabeth wasn't able to finish her idea as something went spinning past her like a flying buzzsaw.

We could only watch as the projectile proceeded to obliterate the head of the small ant and then dig itself into the ground in a small trench.

"One down!" Katie Gardner growled as she marched forward, being cheered on by the Demeter cabin. She pulled the hammer, now covered in ant guts, out of the ground and brought it down on the rest of its body with a roar. "Kill the insects! Purge them all! For the plants!"

"FOR THE PLANTS!"

"Is any of this normal?" Lou asked as she looked back and forth between Katie and the rest of the Demeter cabin.

"Not at all." Travis and Connor spoke at the same time in weary voices.

"Well there goes following it back." I said as I rose from my hiding place in the bushes. The others followed after me a moment later and we all made sure to have a little distance between us and the campers on a warpath. "I still know where to go so nothings really changed, I guess."

"Except we have first blood!" One of the Demeter kids, Damian I think, screamed out.

"Can't say that they don't have enthusiasm." Thalia laughed as she watched the chaos.

"Can't say they have common sense anymore either." Annabeth commented dryly.

"Let's just get going. I don't want to miss dinner because we took to long." I say while walking off in the direction of the nest. They can either pull themselves together so we can do it as a group or I can just do it alone. Either way is fine with me.

X

The ants marched in numerous single file lines as we watched them from atop the stone hill. Seeing the vast numbers, they had along with their varying sizes seemed to hammer in the difficulty of the task far more than reading it from a book.

I'm still sure that I could have done this entire task by myself, but I really didn't want to destroy half the forest around camp just to do so. I'd probably pass out after the attempt as well, leaving me to whatever monsters lurk in these woods as well.

"This is going to be a lot harder than I thought." I commented dryly. "No wonder Chiron does this yearly."

"We usually do it in the spring where they are much weaker." Beckendorf says from my side as he's setting up a turret. "Supposedly they hate the cold so they spend the winter months holed up in their nest until spring hits."

"So basically hibernation." Lou says earning an affirmative grunt.

"Don't know if they sleep or not. Just that they don't come out."

"That doesn't matter." Annabeth interjected. "What does matter is our defensive measures. This hill is a good defensive point but it's pretty barren. There's nothing to keep us from getting swarmed on all sides once they get past the trees."

"Are there any better spots?" Thalia asked as she looked around. "Because I didn't see any when we went around."

Annabeth clicked her tongue in the negative. "It's too dense in this part of the forest. Anywhere else and we wouldn't have a proper base camp to safely organize everyone." Annabeth lets out a sigh and kicks a small rock down the hill. "We might need to go back for more supplies o build a proper barricade."

I turned and looked around at our makeshift observation point as Annabeth spoke. She was correct that it was pretty barren on all sides with nary a rock to provide cover for any of our campers. Annabeth was already forming defensive lines with the campers as well as posting the turrets of the Hephaestus cabin on whatever stable elevated surfaces they could find.

It wasn't a bad plan; it was actually really good with what little we had available to us but I could see some immediate improvements that could be made if only because unlike Annabeth I wasn't limited with the items we simply had on hand.

"Hey Lou! Think you can set up a boundary. Something to screw with the ants?" I called to the tiny witch as she was sharpening her blade.

"It'll take me a moment and it will be pretty crude." She calls back. "I'm still trying to figure out the finer details on the more advanced ones."

I open my mouth to respond but Annabeth immediately steps in. "If you can help with the defenses why didn't you say anything?" Her tone was only slightly demanding but that was overshadowed by the curiosity she had.

Lou rolled her eyes at the question. "I just said I'm not an expert in the thing. I'd rather not liquefy the organs of anyone inside it thank you very much."

"Can you really liquefy a person?" Thalia says with a look of slight interest, a mischievous smirk on her face. "What about making someone grow hair in random places?"

"There are a variety of curses or spells for any kind of use, I'm sure there's one for whatever suits your needs." Lou said disinterestedly as she began to weave her magic, the green mist flowing in the air. While she herself could be a vindictive little troll with her magic, learning curses to prank campers had never been on her list of interests, only something she learned to keep others from messing with her.

"You wouldn't mind filling in a few requests for me, would you?"

"I'm not going to have to report to Chiron about any missing campers, am I?" I asked Thalia, my sarcasm laced with the slightest bit of concern.

"Not if you mind your own business." She said with a cheeky smile that did nothing to dissuade the idea that something horrible was going to some of the other campers. At least it'll be something funny to watch.

"Percy." I heard Beckendorf call out to me. I walked over to see him working a turret, the parts and tools organized around him.

"Yeah?"

"You can move the earth, right?" He asked and I nodded. "Would you set up a few barriers around the encampment? Nyssa will point out any good places." He nodded his head over to the bronze skinned girl working on placing the tripods for the turrets they brought.

"Sure." I agreed without hesitation and walked over to Nyssa. I'm pretty sure that I had seen her a few times around the forges but that's it. She wore the same heavy working overalls that all the Hephaestus kids wore, though the top half was wrapped around her waist leaving her in just a tank top that exposed her muscled arms.

"Yo." I casually greeted. "Beckendorf said you needed barricades?"

"Yeah." Her voice was as deep as I expected for one of the forge kids. "I need a few raised platforms. Then we can move on to the defenses."

I nodded and placed my hands against the ground. My will seeped into the earth and I could feel everything beneath use, even the tunnels the wants used that stretched for miles. The earth's plates shifted like an unstoppable force mixed with an immovable object. If the ocean was a constantly shifting mass that felt alive and filled with unrestrained power, then the earth was like a slumbering beast, massively imposing and ready to unleash disaster if awakened.

I pushed away these feelings and focused on the task at hand, my senses shifting through the hill. I had to pause for a brief moment when I felt a large mass inside of the hill. It wasn't like a deposit of stone or ore or anything, actually it felt more like there was massive empty space within.

It was definitely something to look into later but I had a task to do already.

The earth responded to my desires and smooth surfaces rose from the ground, raising the automated turrets up. After they went high enough, I made a makeshift set of steps to get to each one.

Once each one was done, I turned to Nyssa and she only nodded in confirmation before directing me around the camp and having me raise the earth into barriers, only giving me pointers every once in a while, on how high they needed to be, the positioning and any other miscellaneous things.

The entire process only took fifteen minutes but it did leave me a little drained at the end, but I had to admit that it looked good for a makeshift siege defense. The walls were at least four feet high with steps on the inside to provide a higher ground. Pillars stood at the corners, reaching seven feet in height with mounted celestial bronze turrets at the top ready to rain hell on those approaching. At the center of it all was a raised structure, almost like a one-story building with roof access, meant for having someone coordinate the others or just to better toss the Greek fire bombs.

It wasn't every day that I show the extent of my earth related abilities and already I could feel the intense gazes drilling into my back, most of them just felt like the others were merely staring but a few seemed to really dig into me.

I have no idea how proficient sons of Poseidon are supposed to be with earth manipulation but I think I may have gone overboard.

"So long as you upturn this entire hill no one should truly question you." Adamos said, trying to easing my woes somewhat. "The last time a sibling of ours used their earth related abilities they nearly destroyed San Francisco."

"That's not comforting in the slightest." I remark dryly. "If anything, that just makes me more worried."

The abilities we demigods have are no joke and they vary in abilities and strength for each demigod. It's why Hercules was renowned for his strength rather than his ability to cast lightning.

"Is there anything else you need?" I asked Nyssa now that we were done. She just nodded no, not really saying anything as she went to looking at the defensive turrets once again and I took that as my cue to leaves and made my way to the central structure.

At the request of Nyssa, I made the structure into an actual building rather than just an elevated station. It came with windows on four different sides as along with the open wing that was used for a door. A set of steps were off on one of the walls, allowing anyone to reach the roof, which had walls on each side to prevent falling off. At the center of the first floor there was a large, flat slab of stone that I made specifically to be used as a table.

Standing around it were the Stoll twins, Lou, Annabeth, and surprisingly Thalia. A glowing blue figure hovered over the table, drawing everyone's attention well enough that they don't even know I entered the room.

"What are you guys looking at?" I asked as I joined the group. I received a few greetings from them but most of their attention was on the blue display in front of me, not that I could blame them as it was a very realistic and familiar looking display of multiple lines and levels that seemed to extend endlessly in some kind of organized chaos.

"Just something I whipped up by piggybacking off the method we used on that cruise ship. What you are looking at is basically the nest of the Myrmekes within the boundaries of camp." Lou stated proudly. "It took some time but I managed to get the layout of the main part of the nest. Of course, there are tunnels that branch off to who knows where," Lou pointed at some of the blue lines that branched out only to end. "but this mass of tunnels right here is all that matters to us."

"Are there any smaller entrances we can use?" Travis…Connor…one of the Stoll twins brought up. "Because there isn't really a point of us splitting from the main group otherwise."

"Really don't want to pull a reverse Thermopylae." The other Stoll muttered.

"There are a few around here," Annabeth pointed to a few tunnels that branched to the surface, yet still far from the main one. "with this one to the north being the next largest. It's probably our best bet since we don't know how high the ceilings are."

"Good. I'd prefer not fighting on my hands and knees if I can help it." Thalia joked.

"You're coming with us?" I turned to Thalia with a raised brow. It was the first that I was hearing of another person joining.

"Yeah. You got a problem with that?" Thalia said. She was barely sparing me a glance, but I could tell that I had had her attention.

"Not at all." I replied coolly, not turning away from those glowing blue eyes. "Just thought you would be up top with Annabeth."

"Nah." Thalia shook her head. "I've never really one to hang back. I prefer to lead the charge." Her smirk turned a bit predatory at the admission and I couldn't help but give a soundless snort at the eagerness. I must not have been quiet enough as Thalia gave me a glare, and in response I held my hands up in an effort to show I meant 'no offence'.

It must have been enough as she turned away without a second look.

"As I was saying," Lou spoke loudly, getting everyone's attention again. "Each of these entrances are decently big with the smallest one being low enough that we would have to bend over."

"Considering that these things are able to grow to the size of bears there should be plenty of entrances big enough for us to walk in like normal." I said as I remembered the feeling of the earth beneath our feet and the numerous tunnels going through it. "The problem is how deep we are supposed to go."

"Can't you work your earth jutsu or bending and just bring us there quickly." One of the Stoll's asked in a joking tone but I could hear the small amount of seriousness he had.

"It wouldn't work." I shook my head at the suggestion as I began to explain, weak points in the structure popping out to me the longer I look at the nest. "Well, I mean it could work, but I would probably collapse the entire structure in the process. The tunnels made in a way that is structurally sound but they could collapse easily if disturbed the right way."

"Since when are you an expert on architecture?" Annabeth asked with a judging tone.

"I'm not," I admitted. "but I am an expert on breaking things." I said with a slight chuckle.

"Why can things never be done the easy way." The Stoll said with a sigh to which I smirked.

"Because then it wouldn't be as fun. But if that's what you want," I pointed to one of the many tunnels on display. "This as the straightest path we can take to the main chamber of the nest where all the eggs should be."

"And from there we put the fire bombs in the nest and blow them straight to Tartarus." Thalia finished my plan with a nod.

"But before we can do that, we need the ants put of the way so we can actually get into the nest." I pointed out.

"Won't they just charge us since we have so many demigods around here?" The second Stoll brother asked. "The scent is sure to draw them in."

Annabeth shook her head. "It won't work Travis," Then the other one is Connor. "these monsters are organized unlike other monsters. They won't stray from their path or duties just because we are near. What we need is something that that will lure them to us." She finished explaining before looking at Lou. "Is there anything you can do to make a lure?"

"Easily." Lou waved off. "One hour, two, three. I can make you a lure that can last all day if you need it."

"An hour is just fine." Annabeth deadpanned.

"Then I guess that's it." I said as I stretched my limbs after staying still for too long. "I say we take thirty minutes before we really get started. Take any bathroom breaks, eat a granola bar, do what you want." I walked away from table, finding no further need as we now constructed the plan.

"And where are you going?" Thalia asked as I reached the door.

I gave a small shrug. "I think I have some C4 and Windex in my cabin. Could be useful." I didn't elaborate any further and inwardly laughed at the though of how freaked out I was storing volatile explosives in camp.

Omake: The Friends

In the heavenly realms of the Shinto, there was a bar that was regularly visited by the gods of many pantheons. It was one of many favorite gathering places for a group immortal friends just looking to relax and have fun.

"Look all I'm saying is that we need to gather up the guys and go camping." A spikey brown-haired young man slurred as he took a drink from his gourd. The scent of alcohol and various fruits, heavy on his breath. The brown robes, silver headband, and tiger waist cloak he wore setting him apart from the steel and heavy furs of the native Asgardians. "Fight a few monsters, really rough it in the floating mountains you know. We could spend a week in the celestial realms back home."

"I don't know Sun." A raven-haired woman said as she swirled the alcohol in her cup. Her beauty was as radiant and undeniable as the sun itself. Her elegant features and the inhumane grace in her movements that heavily supported her position as royalty were thrown off by the oversized purple kitty cat hoodie and shoes she wore. "I have so many duties that need my attention."

"Come on Ama!" Sun whined to the Shinto queen. "You can go back to your fanfiction and handmade body pillows any time you want."

"Wha—I don't have body pillows!" The sun goddess whispered harshly, barely managing to restrain herself since they were in a public area. Her face as well as the surrounding area heating up enough to make the air shimmer.

"But it's been so long since we all hung out." The Monkey King whined, ignoring her denials, not even bothered by the heat that would burn a mortal from mere proximity alone.

Amaterasu let out a deep breath as the temperature lowered back to normal. "Sun we're hanging out right now. Adamos is on his way and Thor should be here soon. Skadi has something she needs to do so she won't be coming until later."

"But its not all of us." Sun cried fake tears as he took another swig from his gourd. "Why didn't you bring your brother with you, or even Taka or Tsuki?"

"Someone has to watch over the kingdom while I'm gone. As for Susanoo…" Ama's face turned into a weird mix of resignation and exasperation.

"He screwed up again didn't he." Sun said with a large grin on his face, not at all sharing the goddess's feelings.

"He is grounded yes." The sun goddess sighed. "I will never understand how he managed to paint the all the torii pink without getting caught." She then turned to glare at the smiling monkey next to her. "And I have a feeling that your part of the reason for it."

"Guilty as charged" The monkey laughed unrepented. "He and Horus should really know better than to make drunk bets."

Amaterasu opened her mouth, fully intent on tearing the monkey a new one for enabling her brother's stupidity when the door to the bar burst open.

A panting Adamos stood in the frame, his face set in a dead serious expression that drew both of their attentions. In the back of their minds, they went over various worse case scenarios that could be happening.

"Hey man." Sun called to his friend. "What's with the face? We at war with the Hindu's again?"

"No, this is far more important." Adamos said seriously, confusing them both at how something could be more important than another war with the Hindu and the pantheons that formerly allied with them. "We have a code 23-19! Thor is getting hit on as we speak!"

Both of their eyes widened before they donned looks of determination usually reserved for the call to action.

As a unit the three sprinted out of the bar in a tight three person V-formation with Adamos in the lead.

"Target sighted at twelve o'clock! Initiate plan Alpha!" Adamos ordered as they rounded the corner, spotting the Norse god of thunder talking to a girl.

"Roger!" The two deities complied easily as they accelerated. Their sprinting forms devolving into a rather pathetic and overly dramatic dash. An illusion forms over their features to better disguise themselves.

"Ullgar!" The pair of disguised deities cried out, drawing tons of attention as the leapt on to the surprised Thor.

"Who is this woman? Was it all a lie when you said your time with me was the most enjoyable of all!?/That night! That night!/Didn't you say you loved me?!/Was it all a lie when you toasted to the beauty of my eyes!?" The two rambled endlessly at the same time, acting like a pair of distraught lovers as they clung to the thunder god right in front of a pair of women with fox and cat ears and tails on their bodies.

"Wha? Hey get off me!?" Caught so off-guard it took the Norse god a moment to realize who was actually clinging to him as he tried to pry them off of his body.

"Seriously you two! Can you please take your hands off him! YOU HOMEWRECKERS!" Adamos shouted, drawing all their attention to him as he approached. He too had changed his appearance, now sporting a head of full blonde hair and emerald green eyes. His casual clothes gone and replaced with a silk button up shirt and dress pants while he carried his jacket over his shoulder. Sparkles glittered around his body on account of an illusion put in place to really sell the pretty boy look. "Ullgy has violin practice with me now. Let's get you back home so you can warm up. Today we'll try something new, and by the end I'll have you master Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." He spoke in a sensual tone.

The two girls, now thoroughly weirded out took that moment to leave, power walking as fast as they could from the scene, muttering about fake Thor's and lecherous perverts all the while.

"Hey wait! I really am Thor! I don't know these people!" Thor's cries fell on deaf ears though as the two had disappeared into the crowd.

"What in the Hel is wrong with you three!" Thor immediately rounded on his supposed friends with a face of indignation as he lifted both Wukong and Amaterasu into the air by the back of their clothes, their laughter causing their grip falter. "Do you know how close I was to getting a date!"

"About a thousand meters behind the starting line?" Adamos said with a laugh.

"Shove it pretty boy!" Thor snapped at the Earth god before sighing and dropping the two deities in his hands onto the ground. "Lets just go to the bar. You can apologize by buying my first round."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not apologizing for shit."

The four deities slowly made their way back to their seats at the bar, the air filled with the sounds of meaningless conversation and intense arguments that held no real heat to them.

A/N: Ok I know you've heard this before but I apologize for taking so long. I'm not totally satisfied with this chapter but I figured that I never will be. When I was writing this, I was suddenly dragged all the way to Florida due to my paternal grandfather and step grandmother passing away within a half day of each other. A hurricane was about to hit where we were staying so it threw the schedule of how long we were staying off and forcing us to extend it. Of course, the service was nice and everything so at least that was a plus. Anyways hope you enjoy you sexy beasts.

Reviews:

mastercheif1229: Glad you like it

Zariah: I'm not really taking oc's but thanks reading

Accurateplushie: Yes it is and about Percy being overpowered, he won't be the only one receiving power ups. Power scaling will rise on both sides.

Revan: Sorry you didn't enjoy it.

GAMESTREEMERPercyJackson Fan:...ok

Peopleperson2406: I don't think i've heard it.

Smile Giver11: Glad you like it.

Ahont: I imagined that it started out epic and devolved to a school yard beat down, ending with the brother gods tied to a tether ball pole and being pelted with enchanted soccer balls. as for the fireballs, no.

Matt: Gods are not exactly reasonable. Unlike the Greeks and other pantheons the brothers don't regularly interact with mortals so they are worse. that's not to say the pantheons of earth are great just that they are a bit more humane in comparison.

Warlord009: The omakes do have significance. if they don't i will tell you.

Ice 88:Thanks

TheGirlofManyFloods: Tiamat and Eris are the daughters of Adamos, his first two children. Adamos hates romans because of something that happened cneturies ago that i will bring up in the future and in the chance of a meeting he won't outright kill them but that doesn't mean he won't tear them down verbally, hoping they attack him so he has an excuse to kill them.

Frostboi88:It won't end like that and Thalia is a headstrong and confident girl. There will be some clashing.

MSKN:i did read a story with that premise but it was so long ago i cant remember the title.

Jason Wu: No man likes being rejected for someone else, and Adamos already told Gabriel where he's going.

Robin the Ylissian Grandmaster: yes

MuppetMann: Sorry about the wait.

SneakyRacoon10: no, maybe an omake but no crossovers.

Sultan Asil Arslan: Its not wrong and there's a reason that the biblical pantheon isn't counted amongst the strongest. The Hindu are actually considered the strongest in the past and as for Lilith and Cain they serve under Adamos doing rather...extensive work.

Papermagin: Thalia isn't some pretty girl that waits to be rescued or coddles people. She says what she means and isn't afraid to tell people what they need to hear, even if its not what they want to hear.

TheDragon2000: That sounds funny. I'm stealing that idea.

JoJo 'Perlia' Jesus: This isn't romance at first sight. This is beating the love into each other.