Chapter 15

For a quick clarification of the timeline, the 500 years later ending scene had technically not happened yet. We are at a point in time where one side is living in *perfection*, the other side is preparing for war. We are about 455 years later after Percy left, about five years after the last chapter. These next chapters are going to mainly be behind the scenes at the training camp leading up to the war! Enjoy

Also sorry for taking FOREVER to upload. Being in highschool, will and dedication come in really short bursts, and sometimes run out so yup.

You could hear the swords clanging together from halfway across the castle. As the clangs became more frequent, more and more people came towards the sparring arena and the sight inside stunted them. There were two mini armies fighting each other. On one side a collection of monsters, on the other a large amount of un-dead soldiers. The crowd started to go wild while watching the two gods go at each other.

The yearly Percy/Nico sparring match was something no one wanted to miss. No one ever knew who was going to win. The current record was 2 and 2, so someone was about to take the lead.

Nico let out a wave of hell fire of which consumed Percy and his army. Some of the monsters were not affected but some turned to ash instantly. Percy didn't mind the fire, it didn't really affect him. He walked to the side to avoid the ever going stream of flames and retaliated with a jet of poison water. Nico was barely able to deflect the column of deadly poison, but stepped out of the way just in time. Percy knew what was going to happen and was right by Nico. He extended the sword to his neck and looked at his cousin smugly.

"Give up," he asked smugly.

Nico, not wanting to say it, nodded, not wanting to be impaled. Percy lowered his sword then moved in to shake hands. As the two shook hands, the crowds erupted into applause and cheering. Nico's eyes gleamed with competitive hatred. He almost shivered after seeing the look in his cousin's eyes, although he knew that he wasn't going to harm him, the fear that Nico radiated was not any less.

The two walked off into the hallways of the giant castle as the cheers from the room behind them began to drown out.

Annabeth POV

Annabeth was walking through the hallways, seeing the recruit chatting happily about what had happened. The excitement after the Percy Nico soaring match would take a couple days to die down, it always did. Annabeth shook her head at the antics of the recruits.

She walked purposefully towards the end of the hallway and through a set of double doors. She entered the War Planning Room and was pleased when she saw her mother in a conversation with a few demigods and Aries. She walked over to join them and caught snippets of the conversation.

"Do you think they know?"

"I mean they definitely know what we have been doing."

"Do we know the numbers?"

"Do we know when they are going to move?"

"Hey, what's going on," Annabeth asked.

Athena turned to look at her daughter, regret, concern, and guilt written all over her face.

"I was made out as the spy," she said regretfully.

Annabeth was a little shocked to hear this but knew it had to happen sometime. For one she was the mother of the wife to Percy Jackson. Two they would have none when they recognized the fighting patterns used by Athena previously, Annabeth reasoned. She knew there was more than enough evidence to convict her mom.

"Hey, you made it for years, you did great," Annaebth told her. "Don't beat yourself up, please."

Knowing her mom was not likely to fully take her advice then and there, she decides to go back to the topic at a later time. For now she needed to hear a plan of action.

"What are we going to do now that we no longer have a spy?"

"Well, I think we will need to attach sooner than later. They will probably be building up an army of as many minor gods and other deities as possible. They will be rounding up any other demigods that we would have missed," Athena concluded.

Annabeth nodded her head in agreement.

" I am just happy that it took you so long to get found out. A few centuries is a long time for spy to be in the enemy camp."

Athena smiled appreciatively before leaving the room. Annabeth turned to look ay her sibling who was coming up behind her.

"Hey Malcom," she greeted.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know we can have the army, medics, back up supplies, rations, transportation and weapons ready in about 48 hours."

Annabeth nodded considering the odds if they went to war right away.

"Get Percy then give the order to get ready for battle."

Malcom nodded in acknowledgement, then swiftly left the room. Annabeth found the nearest chair and sat down, the gravity of what was about to happen weighing down on her. I just ordered the attack order, she thought. We are about to finally bring an end to Lightning Head's reign. She stayed seated for a few more minutes before rising with a large grin on her face. All of their hard work was about to pay off.

Percy POV

Percy was sweaty and out of breath. The duel with his cousin had been much needed and it was a good way to let off steam. Nico, Jason and Thalia are some of the only people who can hold their own against Percy in a sword fight. When powers become involved, Nico is the only one who can hold his own. Percy was just that strong.

Percy made his way to the back of the castle in no time. He entered the room and immediately felt another presence. His sword was out in the blink of an eye.

"Who's there," he called.

"Beth" a voice responded.

Percy gave a slight sigh of relief, then set out to find said person. He finally found her in the midst of the darkness. Percy could see clearly, and he had a hunch Beth could as well.

"Want some light," he asked jokingly.

"No, I never felt at home in the light ya know?"

"I understand," he responded.

"Sometimes the light just makes you feel dirty and exposed. It is so much easier to hide in the darkness."

"True, sometimes I feel like the darkness just suits me more, not the morals or anything, just the aggression and emotion. I have always fought for what is right, but the ways I fight for it may seem dark at some points. I also feel like the light rejects me. The powers I have, they are dark in nature."

"I understand. What, with being the daughter of a titan, an evil one."

Percy scoffed at that.

"Do you know how many times your dad has tried to kill me," he asked.

"Why does some weird part of me really want to know?"

"More time than I can count. Because of him. I fought my first war when I was the ripe old age of 16."

"So you did not have a normal life for a demigod?"

"Nope, and because of that, I am now one of the most well known demigods in history," he said bitterly.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, both lost in the dreams of what could have been. Out of nowhere, a siren started to blare. Their heads snapped towards each other, thoughts of doom and fears racing through their minds.

They quickly got up and started running towards the mess hall.

LINE BREAK

"Silence please," Annabeth commanded over the thousands of people. Apprehension and nerves filled the air as they were all wondering what the meeting entailed.

"You have been summoned because we believe no is the time to attack Olympus. They have not had time to gather an army even a fraction of the size that we have here. We will be leaving the pit in 24 hours. You will meet back here in 23. Please rest, eat, gather any and all weapons and supplies and prepare yourselves."

"The whole room exploded in cheers and applause. Even though they were walking into a war, they had been waiting for this for years, centuries in some cases. They would finally be able to put their training to the test.

When Percy stood, silence rushed over the whole hall. Every person's eyes were glued to the imposing figure.

"First I wanted to thank everyone for joining our effort, for joining a cause that is larger than yourselves. In a day's time, we will be attacking Olympus, where a god has held power for far too long. Zeus has become senlie and addicted to his power. His judgement has been clouded because of it. We wish to end his reign. But before we attack I wish to remind you of a few things beforehand.

Number one, you are still semi-mortal. You can be killed in combat. We wish this on no one, so please stay alert and with another at all possible times on the battlefield. We wish to walk away with minimal deaths.

Number two, please study the maps that will be given out to your quarters. They will hold the tentative locations of the medicals tents, extra weapons, and the command tent. Please know the general area so that you are able to find them under all conditions.

Lastly, you will receive battalion assignments tomorrow, 2 hours before we gather. We would like for you to be early so that you can come to know who is in your group. Thank you for your time. For now prepare yourselves," he finished.

The whole of the hall saluted in silence, when a slow clap reverberated around the room.

"Good job," the figure said. "Little bit of motivation, little bit of warning all nicely balanced pep talk."

Percy studied the figure before he began to scowl.

"Leave now," he said firmly.

"Oh I will leave shortly, I just need to have a private conversation with the great Percy Jackson."

Percy looked sound hesitantly before responding.

"What do you want Erebus?"

Sorry that this is short but I really just wanted to get you guys a chapter so here you go.