The entire class of 1000 or so students stood from their stone seats, all expressions voided from their faces. They were all young, the youngest being around 8 while the oldest being twelve or thirteen. A man walked into the classroom, looking rather... happy?

Well, as happy someone could be in Hell.

He wore a smart suit and his dark grey hair was slicked back. His eyes were completely black, stripped of all humanity.

"Right class, sit your asses down!" He barked, and all sat. "We will be talking about our favourite subjects: The Nine Circles of this wonderful place! So, let's get started!" This bloke was completely insane.

"Here, we have Limbo, the First Circle of Hell. This is the place where those who died before being baptized as well as virtuous pagans who lived and died before the birth of Christ reside. Those found here are usually those poets and philosophers from the pagan world such as Virgil, Homer, Horace, Ovid, Socrates, Plato and, apparently (considering that he led the Arab armies against the Christian crusaders) the Muslim leader Saladin. Not a very nice place, but they might teach you a thing or two about the old world above us. And thankfully, this place is just outside the complex we currently stand in!"

Percy Jackson sat in his seat, fidgeting. The 8-year-old could never cope with these lectures.

"Next, we have the place where all those lusty bastards go! The Second Circle is just the place where the sinners who are guilty of the sin of lust are confided. This place is not very charming, especially since all the souls down there are blown about in a violent storm without hope of rest. Right below in the Third, we have those greedy pigs that can't get enough of anything – especially the food. These suckers are condemned to eat vile filth for all eternity." He took a breath before continuing. Percy was really bored.

"The Fourth Circle is reserved for those who are guilty of avarice and prodigality, AKA spendthrifts. Their punishment is to knock great rocks together eternally – fun stuff!" This lecturer was going to have a painful end, just like the last six. "The pricks guilty of wrath and sullenness are sentenced to the Fifth Circle, where they spend all eternity suffering for their sins. The angry ones eternally fight each other on the surface of the River Styx from the Pit of Chaos and Tartarus above, while the sullen one's gurgle beneath the waters. Now that is an awesome punishment!"

"We next have the boring three, which are Heresy, Violence and Fraud. The heretics are trapped in flaming tombs – a classic if you ask me. The violent people in the Seventh have a reservation booked for the rest of time for those who are guilty of violence, whether it is against themselves, property, nature, or other people. Here, the sodomites, the suicides, the usurers, and blasphemers are tormented also, adding a little fun. And then the Eighth Circle, where the thieves, liars, cheaters, sorcerers and false prophets are chucked."

"And lastly, we have the Ninth Circle for the worst of the worst: Treachery. Those who have betrayed a special relationship in committing their crimes are condemned to the lowest and most horrific level. And the three greatest betrayals in history: Judas, Brutus, and Cassius are at the very centre of hell, in the ever-devouring mouths of Satan. This dude, well, we should talk about his past. After crashing into the Southern Hemisphere during Lucifer's fall, the South Pacific Ocean to be specific, he just sunk into a pit and continued to fall into the Circles of Hell until he reached the Ninth. Once beautiful, the only demons to have seen him are his Wives, such as Lilith. He is rumoured to be the size of most of the Ninth, so don't take a trip. He might snack on you or just freeze you to death."

Everyone seemed relieved when the explanation was over. "Class over!" The lecturer declared. Ten minutes later, he was hanging from a Pike up his rear end over the Second Circle as the winds stretched the wound in his backside.

Basically, the class had fun with their douche-bag teacher.

The Demon Rites

The Ninth Circle was cold. It was one way to describe the place. There was weird and scary as well, but Percy thought that all of Hell was weird. The Ninth Circle was bluish all over from what Percy could so far tell, but was also very dark and gloomy.

He had met back up with the other candidates around half an hour beforehand, and the distant screams of the goblins haunted them all.

BOOM!

The loud crash alerted everyone, and they all began to look around and ready to bolt it if worst came to worst. The Legacy of Poseidon walked a bit away from the other candidates. He could feel his skin crawling, as if something sinister was nearby. It was a sensation he recognized from being close to the demon Azazel, but this was different. It felt as if the darkness causing this was inside of him.

Perseus... A weak, strangled voice called out. Percy's head shot up as his eyes darted around the icy caves of the one of the darkest pits of Hell. Come to me... Percy gritted his teeth as the voice spoke once more, raising his hand to his head. He had to focus. But the voice brought upon a pounding sensation within his head. The Blood of the Last Child will free me... It whispered, ice swirling around Percy, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

"What...?" Percy managed through his chattering teeth.

Come to me, child! Allow the Sword to rise once more...

Percy collapsed to his knees, the power too much. The voice was prodding into his mind, filling his head with images. A dark-haired woman with sea green eyes looking over him as he lay in a crib.

I have answers... A way out! Take me with you, as I choose you as my owner...

"Who are you?" Percy hissed out weakly a few candidates came running over to him to help their fellow candidate out.

The Last Trial of Enoch, the last remnant of the forgotten deity Enoch himself... the Sword of Enoch is; and Perseus Jackson, the son of Sally Jackson, daughter of Poseidon, and also the Last Enochian Born is my last wielder...

Percy was just confused. How could this sword know so much of Percy's childhood before Hell? Nobody knew other than the Demons who trained them, but refused to let on.

The Blood of Cain is strong in you... You have a dark road to travel... Follow my voice, and claim me as your own!

The voice died down, the iciness that came with it disappearing as well.

But when he awoke, there was only screams of pain and people rushing around. Quickly springing to his feet, Percy thought that there were more Goblins. But it was different. Some of the candidates had an aura of darkness and was slaughtering a number of their candidates.

Believing that is the voice from earlier, Percy drew his sword and hacked down a candidate with ease. Black blood cascaded down upon him as the limp body collapsed to the icy ground, the two body halves twitching occasionally as the floor was stained red.

A candidate turned to Percy, eyes glowing bright red. Malice swirled within them, causing Percy to shiver right down to the core. What was going on?

The boy charged Percy, only to get cut in half by a 15-year-old girl. She beckoned Percy to follow as many of the Candidates turned on each other. Percy slashed the back of one of the turned open, causing her to scream out in agony as her spinal cord was split vertically. The once blue cave was soon painted red with the blood of those turned by some form of Black Magic within the Ninth Circle.

Percy and the remaining candidates stood among the dead bodies of their allies. A sudden roar shook the entire cave, causing a few candidates to topple over. The roar was followed by an intense gust of icy cold wind knocking the candidates back. With haste, they picked themselves up and followed the path ahead of them. The cries of goblins were far behind them, meaning that they were safe for a short while. The tunnel stretched out a further few hundred miles before opening out into a large ledge overlooking a massive cliff. Shards of ice littered the ground as more icy wind curled around them.

The tunnel had just stopped before shooting upwards into the darkness. An icy canopy was in the distance, and the space they were in seemed to stretch out for an eternity. But it didn't. In what looked to be the centre of the enormous cavern, was a haunting figure. Whatever it was, it was as large as the cavern.

They had made it – the Ninth Circle of Hell. This was actually it – the Prison of Satan, and in the centre was the fallen Archangel himself.

"Let's get this over with. Better avoid the big dude though." A voice announced from the crowd. And with that, the remaining few hundred candidates made their way to the edge of the ledge and began their dangerous descent.

The Demon Rites

Camp Half-Blood – the safe haven for all demigods from the Greek Pantheon. A place ridiculed with the spawn of the gods. But this place wasn't as humble as it is believed to be. Many carry a distaste towards their godly parent, are hunted daily by monsters looking for a snack and most of them are also unclaimed by their godly parent because they "slipped through the cracks" or their parent is a Minor God.

Lucas Castellan (better known as Luke) was one of those unclaimed. Everyone including himself knew that his father was Hermes, the Olympian God and Messenger of the Gods, but the god simply didn't claim him. He had never hated his father enough to outright turn on Olympus, but he did hate them. Not many liked the Greek Gods anyway, since only the Children of Zeus get privileges.

Unlike Thalia. Gods, the name still caused his heart to clench. He would never forgive either Hades or Zeus for that dreadful night five years ago.

Hades had discovered that Zeus had broken the Big Three Oath to never have children, so he sent the Three Furies and an army of monsters after the Daughter of Zeus, Thalia. She was with Luke and a young seven-year-old known as Annabeth Chase, a Daughter of Athena. A Satyr called Grover Underwood had found them and was bringing them to camp when they were attacked by the army. Knowing who they were after, Thalia held them off while the others went to get help. Her time was short-lived as she was struck down by the army, savagely ripped apart. As she took her last breath, Zeus sent a bolt of Lightning down upon his daughter and turned her into a huge pine tree the size of what the White House would have at Christmas. This allowed a magical barrier to be placed all around camp, preventing monsters from entering camp unless allowed. Same went for mortals and other ungodly creatures, possibly including Titans. The tree is now the centre of Camp Half-Blood's defence – called Thalia's Tree, in remembrance of the Daughter of Zeus who gave up her life for the safety of the camp.

In the shadows of the forest, lingered a dark figure shrouded in well, shadows. The only feature that could be seen was his eyes. They were bright gold and swirled with corruption, power and malice. They promised pain and suffering, and they were currently following Luke's every move. "The next pawn in this game of chess." He spoke quietly to himself, reaching out a bony hand towards the Son of Hermes.

A small wisp of black smoke left the demon's hand and curled through the air, before wrapping itself around Luke's chest. Dark thoughts began to fill the mind of the demigod, false hopes of tearing down Olympus. This came alongside a devious plan for the Winter Soloist, resulting in a disastrous war between the Big Three.

With a dark grin, the shady figure melted into the darkness as a maniacal grin spread across Luke's lips. Phase 1 is complete, was the demon's simple thought.

The Demon Rites

It was dark, and it was cold. Neither one was liked by Percy, but he put up with it. This final trial would seal his fate – deciding wherever he lived or died. The trek was murderous, the number of sudden drops uncountable. The icy air bit deep into Percy, the constant gusts of wind not helping matters at all.

Frost coated the rocky terrain in a cold blanket as the group of children drew closer to the abomination that was in the middle of the deepest pit of the Ninth Circle.

They dropped down a small ledge onto a lake of ice. The lake however, wasn't exactly normal. A few good hundred meters ahead, there was a ten feet tall wall of ice. Five boys took a run over there and thought it would be a good idea to climb up the wall. It really wasn't a good idea.

One boy got to the top, and shouted out "I can see-" And those were his last words. Almost invisible blades swept him off his feet before slicing him up into miniscule particles. All that remained was blood and tiny chunks of organs and flesh. The remains covered the other boys in a sickly blanket, resulting in one of them throwing up thinking that a piece of bone had gone into his mouth. It had – and had ripped out through the back of his throat, leaving a small hole. Blood flowed from the wound as the boy collapsed and drowned in his own blood.

A few of the girls gasped in shock and moved backwards at the grim scene. Percy knew what was going to happen – that strange voice kept saying.

"We're just outside of the first of four sections of this frozen lake. After all, four, we meet Satan." The Legacy of Poseidon announced in monotone. All eyes turned to him, questioning him.

"And will we fail this task too?" A girl next to Percy snapped, folding her arms. Her name was Nancy, of Percy remembered correctly.

"And I'm the only one with an idea, which is better than jack-squat." The young boy countered. She instantly shut up to think of a remark.

"And if we all die? We don't want a repeat of last time, when a large number died!" A 16-year-old boy shouted out, a small blonde goatee under his chin.

"And what just happened! Most of us just went insane!" Another girl defended Percy. Soon, all of them were arguing about wherever to go with Percy's idea. But the voice was now screeching in the Legacy's head, giving him a severe migraine.

"SILENCE!" Percy thundered, stomping his foot onto the ground. Cracks snacked across the ice from Percy's foot and the cave all around them shook. The cracks continued to snake across the ice, the sound sinking.

"Look at what you've now done Percy!"

"RUN!" A boy shouted and they all ran for the entrance.

"LEFT!" The voice in his head bellowed, and Percy changed in that direction.

"Follow me or we all die!" Percy barked, kicking off to the left again.

"RIGHT! LEFT! STRAIGHT AHEAD! BACK UP AND MAKE A LEFT!" This voice in his head was beginning to annoy Percy. With every direction the voice was growing louder and louder. The ice slowly began to collapse into a lake of pitch black water, and froze over shortly afterwards. It never occurred to him that the Ninth Circle was that cold.

It took them some time, but they soon emerged from the endless maze and onto another plane of ice.

"Caína, named after the Father of Murder, Cain, who slew his brother Abel. Round one." The voice announced.

"Wait, what…?" Percy was confused, and then he realised what the ice was covered in. Heads popped out through the sheet of ice, and they were everywhere. All of these were traitors.

"The Father does not wish your presence, scum." A man snarled from the shadows.

"IT'S CAIN! RUN!" Percy's eyes widened in fear.

"Who is that?" A few boys and girls whispered from inside the crowd.

"It's the Father of bloody Murder." Was all Percy said, and they all began to panic.

A man darted from the shadows and Percy raised his sword high. He blocked the incoming strike from Cain and a few boys drew their makeshift weapons and helped.

"RUN!" Percy bellowed, "PRESS ON!" He kicked the Knight of Hell backwards and roared with anger. A torrent of black water erupted from the lake and caused a few of the heads in the ice to explode into a firework of brain tissue, muscles, bone and blood. The water flew through the air and hit Cain square in the face, sending him flying back.

"Get him between the fourth and fifth rib on his left side!" The voice barked as Cain jumped back onto his two feet. Percy readied himself as the Knight of Hell charged him, and swung the sword at the last second. It connected into the left side of Cain and sliced through the flesh like a hot knife through butter. Cain collapsed, black smoke leaking from the wound.

Percy ran to catch up with the other candidates as they walked up to a massive doorway leading into darkness. A gust of icy wind reached out from inside of there and sent a chill down Percy's spine. Angry spurts of words were heard from behind as Cain seemed to stand up, the black smoke encasing his wound and sewing it up.

"Go through!" A boy yelled and they all dove through the portal as Cain picked up his weapons, glaring at Percy.

Once they had all left, Cain placed all of his weapons onto their rightful places and looks up into the darkness above. "Father, Lucifer, they come. The boy is more than worthy of the weapon." The man spoke before reaching down and his fingers tracing his newest scar. In a clash of shadows, the Knight of Hell vanished into thin air.

The Demon Rites

So, uh, hey guys! Sorry about the delay (yeah, I took the complete piss), but a lot of stuff is constantly coming up. I had most of this written out to be honest, I just slipped off track due to recent events (not including my laptop being the biggest bastard above all else).

But now here's the new chapter! So, I hope you guys enjoyed it and I would give cookies if you leave a review! (::) (::) (::) Just kidding, I can only give virtual cookies.

Once again, please leave a review! I'll definitely update around Christmas time, if not you can all give me a royal kick up the arse.

Until next time!

~The Prince of Souls