Canvas flapped in the air, the relentless sound of it serving as something akin to drums of war to a council taking place. Several demigods were standing around a large circular table within an old army modular tent.

Percy crossed his arms, and listened to the demigods strategize, studying the surface of the table. On it lay a three dimensional model of the area of the forest used in capture the flag, several paths throughout color coded. He assumed it was the work of the sons and daughters of Athena.

He was impressed, despite himself. At first, he'd thought of it as nothing more than a childish game. Now he saw it for what it truly was, the equivalent of a war game. It was a simulation made for the demigods to hone their craft and skills.

"The Area cabin will take point along the western treeline, here, here, and here." Annabeth ordered, pointing out various points on the map. She was biting her lip, frowning intently at the map.

"Based on previous games, the hunters will likely push directly up the center. The Ares cabin will smash into their left flank once we've bogged them down fighting in the forest."

Her eyes came up, away from the map. She surveyed the room, attempting to make eye contact with all the cabin leaders. "While all that's going on, a few from the Athena cabin will go around their right flank and secure the flag. Acceptable?"

Percy thought he could almost see the gears whirring in her head. He frowned, seeing an obvious flaw in the plan. He began speaking, drawing the attention of everybody in the tent.

"How do you plan on bogging the hunters down in the forest? That's where they'll be at their strongest. They are vastly superior at woodland fighting, you're putting your weakness against their strength here."

Annabeth grinned savagely. "You, Percy. You'll be leading the opposition force. If you're as good as everybody has been saying, I'm certain you can go toe to toe with the hunt"

Percy grumbled for a moment under his breath. She wasn't exactly wrong. And he had been wanting to have a spar with Zoe for a while. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Great. Now, you and your brother," Annabeth pointed towards Bianca, "Will be guardi-"

"No. They'll be coming with me." Percy interrupted. "They need some actual experience, and I can give them some."

As children of Hades, they both had very hard, tough lives ahead of them. He knew what that was like. He would give them all the tools he could for them to survive. Children of the Big Three needed to stick together, after all.

Annabeth glared across the table at him. "What?"

Bianca turned towards him as well, puzzled. Percy smiled at her briefly, before turning to Annabeth and crossing his arms. "Find someone else to guard the river." He leaned over the map. "Or don't. It doesn't matter, honestly, it's irrelevant in the grand scheme of the plan now."

Annabeth furrowed her brow, curiosity temporarily outweighing anger. "And how is that?"

"You have me playing midguard. The hunters will be stopped long before they can make it that far."

Annabeth studied Percy for a long moment. From anybody else, that would have seemed like an outrageous claim, an empty boast. But Percy had stated it as if it were a simple fact of life. The hunters would not pass that arbitrary line he had just made.

And something in Annabeth believed it, despite her admittedly short life experience telling her otherwise.

Thalia broke Annabeth out of her musing. "Just remember, Percy. I'm leading the midguard, not you." Her eyes narrowed at what she saw as a challenger, electricity flickering across her eyes.

Percy merely smiled at her. "Of course." Percy knew of the rivalry Poseidon and Zeus had, but he didn't particularly care. He saw no reason for grudges to be passed down to their children. He saw even less reason for there to be fighting over command. Sure, he could lead, but then nothing would be learnt by these young demigods. "I'm placing myself under your command, ma'am."

Thalia blustered for a moment, obviously not expecting Percy to agree so readily. She was caught further off guard when Percy came to attention and gave her a salute worthy of a parade ground. She rallied valiantly however, and composed herself, giving the old demigod a firm nod. "Good."

Percy looked down at the map. "So tell me where you want us, ma'am."

Thalia gave a proud grin worthy of her father.


"You want to tell me what that was about?" Bianca asked, glaring up at him. She gestured to herself and Nico. "Why do you want to bring us along? We're not skilled at all."

Her footsteps crushed the vegetation under her with more force than usual, as she, her brother, and Percy walked towards the midline of the forest, just at the outskirts of a clearing. It was exactly where Thalia had wanted them. Percy stopped, prompting them to stop as well.

He crouched down so that he could be on eye level with them. "That is exactly why I want you two along with me." His eyes grew cold and serious, and Nico shivered, despite it otherwise being a warm evening inside the camp. "Demigods don't have very long life expectancies, and you two are especially prone to early deaths, being the son and daughter of Hades."

Bianca swallowed, and Percy gravely nodded. "I've been around for quite a bit, and despite my existence making a vow against children of the Big Three redundant, children of them rarely survive to their teens, let alone adulthood. It's vanishingly rare for me to see even one, let alone siblings."

"Vow?" Nico spoke up, his voice tentative and unsure.

Percy grimaced. "There's a prophecy that a child of the Big Three, upon reaching the age of 16, will make a choice that will decide the fate of Olympus. One of the many reasons why we have such high mortality rates. Instead of making a vow against our birth, the gods created me."

"Created you?" Bianca asked, brows furrowed. She studied him for a moment. "Are you…"

Percy briefly laughed. "No, I'm not your brother. I'm a son of Poseidon." His laugh died down, his voice becoming more sombre. "You don't have to worry about being the subject of that prophecy. It's the reason I'm here, why the gods made me. I alone bear that burden."

Bianca and Nico grew silent, looking at him with something between pity and awe. Percy smiled then, somewhat breaking the mood.

"If there's any good thing that's come out of my existence, it's the large collection of weaponry I've had the opportunity to collect."

The old demigod took the rifle off of his back, dropping it into the bottomless pouch in his oversized coat. He reached back into it, his arm travelling further into it than the external size of the pocket should allow.

"Why do you use a gun?" Nico asked, watching the process with fascination. "Why doesn't anybody else?"

Still rummaging inside the pocket, Percy responded. "Balance of power. If all demigods were using firearms, so too would the monsters." He looked up, meeting Nico's eyes as he chuckled with morbid humour. "Fighting monsters is hard enough without them having assault rifles."

"If that's true, why do you use that rifle?" Bianca frowned. Percy shook his head, eyes brightening as his hand grasped something on the inside of the pocket. He began to draw it out.

"I'm a bit of an exception. I don't just fight monsters, I fight mortals as well. I help to enforce the gods' dominance on the fringes of their territory. There, it's a never ending proxy war, with both us and other pantheons using mortal armies as well as monsters." Percy said. He shook his head. "Why do you think the USA has such an aggressive foreign policy? Conflicts between the divine nearly always parallel mortal conflicts."

"So…" began Bianca tentatively. "Afghanistan?"

"The forever war?" Percy snorted. "That's us fighting the Persians. They're stubborn bastards. They keep on trying to expand, and we keep on having to knock them down." He shook his head. He had a grudging respect for the fallen empire, they had tenacity like he'd never seen.

As he spoke, he drew out a strange single bladed sword, resembling a scimitar with a hooked tip. It was made out of a glassy material resembling obsidian. It wasn't enough to simply call the blade black, it was completely devoid of light. The handle was clad in crimson sharkskin, the texture harsh enough to prevent slipping yet smooth enough to prevent harm.

"This." Percy said, looking fondly upon the blade. "Was the weapon of a man I fought beside. He was from the Philippines." He rested a hand on the blade, feeling the thrum of power. "A proud people with even prouder warriors. Their pantheon went to war alongside us against the Chinese. Mortals called it the Korean War. We called it the War against Heaven."

Percy remembered the Battle of Yultong. He remembered how a Filipino force outnumbered over 40 to 1 stopped a Chinese advance cold. He remembered how his friend had died, bravely and befitting of his people. Even Ares had acknowledged him, when Percy had given his report.

Percy gently pushed the weapon towards Nico. Nico took the blade, staring down at it with awe, as Percy smiled at him. "He called it a kampilan, a traditional weapon of his people. It was gifted to him by his patron goddess, Sipnget, the goddess of darkness, and he gifted it to me to be bestowed upon someone I felt was worthy."

Nico looked up with him with wide eyes. "But… you barely know me!"

"I don't need to, in order to know that you'll treat it well. Besides," Percy smiled softly, shrugging. "I think that the blade deserves an owner after so long. And who better to wield a sword of darkness than a son of the underworld? You can feel it, can't you?"

Nico closed his eyes for a moment. He could feel the blade. It hummed softly to him, in a language only those of darkness could hear. "Yes." Nico murmured. "I can hear it."

Percy turned to Bianca, who had been watching the proceedings with a smile. "And now you."

Bianca held out her hands. "No, I don't really need one, I-"

"Yes, you do." Percy's tone brokered no arguments. He looked at the sword at the spear she had strapped to her back with distaste. "And these surplus substandard weapons will do you no favors." He nodded at it. "Did you pick that?"

Bianca tentatively nodded. "Yes. I thought a polearm would suit me better than a sword." She shifted on her feet. "Is that okay? Why do you ask?"

Percy was already rummaging inside the pocket once more. "Just wanted to confirm your preferences." Eyeing her lithe form for a moment, Percy nodded. "You won't be a spearman by any means, but you'd make a formidable stick fighter."

"Stick fighter?" Bianca blinked, then frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Umbrella term." Percy responded, beginning to draw a polearm out of his pocket. "Refers to fighting with a polearm of any sort."

He withdrew the polearm, holding it out. It looked similar to a katana almost, but with an unusually long hilt, spanning nearly 3 feet alone. The blade was pitch black, and the handle was ebony wood, plated with darkened steel and golden fabric. Percy handed it to her, and Bianca stared down at it with puzzlement and awe, turning it hesitantly this way and that.

"What is this?" Bianca asked, fascinated and confused.

"It's a nagamaki," Percy supplied. "A Japanese polearm that bridges the gap between sword and spear." He nodded towards the handle. "It allows for the wielder to possess the defence of a polearm yet the agility of a sword."

"Who did this belong to?" Bianca asked, having heard the story of Nico's sword. Her hands drifted up and down the handle, feeling the contrasting textures of the darkened steel and ebony wood.

Percy smiled softly. "Nothing as dramatic as the kampilan, I'm afraid. It belonged to a shrine maiden of Izanami, the goddess of creation and death. She surrendered it at the end of the second world war, when their pantheon was forced to disarm. I saved it from being scrapped."

Bianca nodded. "It's amazing Percy. Thank you."

She hugged him, and gave a glare at Nico, who was still fascinated by the sword. Nico's eyes widened, as if remembering something.

"Thank you Percy!" Nico echoed, hugging him as well.

Percy laughed, extricating himself from the two. "No problem, you two. Thank me by using them well. If you need them to be easier to carry, imagine them being smaller."

Bianca's nagamaki swiftly became a black bracelet on her wrist, and Nico's sword became a ring on his finger, before both shifted back into their original forms.

Percy stood back up, returning their gleeful smiles with his own. A horn rang in the distance, signalling the beginning of the game.

"Leave your old weapons here, let's get into position." Percy chuckled, withdrawing his own weapon from the coat. It was a basket-hilted saber, reminiscent of a Napoleonic officer's sword. The blade was mottled and striped, glowing bronze and dull steel clashing with each other in a manner reminiscent of Damascus steel. He flourished it for a brief moment, before he sheathed it at his side.

He ran into the treeline and out of the clearing, Nico and Bianca following him.

"What's the plan?" Bianca asked, grasping her polearm tightly. Her knuckles were clenched so tightly around it her knuckles were going white.

"We don't know how to wield these weapons, Percy." Nico spoke, his sword held loosely at his side.

Percy chuckled, resting a hand on the . "You are the son and the daughter of the Lord of the Dead. His strength beats in your heart, his power flows through your veins. The knowledge you seek is already deep within you."

Silver broke through the treeline opposite them. Percy began to walk off, a hand going to the hilt of his saber. "Find your power. You will know what to do."


Percy walked forward calmly. Steel rasped upon leather, and his saber was unsheathed. He held it at his side, it was low, the blade nearly touching the forest floor.

Ahead of him were the hunters, led by Zoe and Anna.

"You will go no further." Percy stated, brandishing his saber forth.

The corner of Zoe's mouth twitched. "You presume much."

Lightning struck the forest floor near then, and Percy took that to believe that Thalia had begun her fight in earnest.

Percy settled into something resembling a fencing stance, shooting a smirk at Zoe. "Prove me wrong, then."

"You're going down, Percy." Anna gave a grin that was all teeth.

For a moment, the two opposing forces merely stood there, staring at each other. And then chaos reigned.

Arrows rained down at Percy, but he quickly closed the distance across the clearing, his saber lashing through the air. What arrows that were not sliced apart by his blade broke against his invulnerable skin and kevlar jacket.

Percy was outnumbered, and outgunned. He had three advantages though.

It was true that the hunters had lived much longer than him, and thus were more experienced and more skilled than him. Most masters of the martial arts had but a lifetime to master their craft. The hunters had several. But Percy fought with a saber for a reason. Most of the immortal beings he fought were used to more ancient and traditional fighting styles. They were typically utterly unprepared for contemporary styles, such as fencing.

Whereas the hunters would flow like water, their weapons leaving trails of silver fire through the air, Percy moved like a scalpel. He fought in simple stabs and thrusts, each thrust of the saber crashing against the guard of a huntress or forcing one to back away.

It was also true that this fighting style left him extremely vulnerable. He frequently overextended, unconcerned with his safety as bladed weapons shattered against him. As much as he hated Ares, he could admit even he had a degree of cunning. When he'd bathed him in the Styx, he'd made sure his mortal point was the bottom of his foot, impossible to get to as long as he still stood. He freely factored this into his fighting style.

Percy flickered forward, his saber lashing forward twice in rapid successions to punch holes into a hunter's shoulders, immobilizing her arms. A pair of incapacitating but completely treatable wounds. Mission killed, the hunter backed away from the fight.

He also wasn't alone. This was his third and final advantage. Even now, the son and daughter of Hades were behind him, and he just needed to hold out until they interfered.

Bianca and Nico stood under the shadow of a tree, watching the fight, enraptured by the inhuman speeds of the combatants.

Percy was moving so fast he seemed to be flickering in and out of perception, his movements slamming into the hunters like a jackhammer, repeated thrusts snaking their way through gaps in their guard.

Anna was ducking and weaving around his thrusts almost as if she were boxing, her hands held up in front of her in akin to a boxing stance. Her fists were engulfed in a corona of silver fire as she repeatedly slashed and stabbed at Percy. Weapons reformed in her grasp as fast as they broke. One second she was wielding a kukri and a machete, the next it was a karambit and a jump knife.

Zoe wielded a glowing leaf-shaped blade as if it were an extension of her body, batting away Percy's furious barrage as if it were a mild inconvenience. A whirlwind of bronze surrounded her, the former Hesperide bringing down the blade with force seemingly equivalent to a semi truck. Percy grimaced in pain. His skin was invulnerable and his body was artificial, but he was by no means immune to bludgeoning force.

Percy crouched down, his saber temporarily ceasing much of its prior movement.

Nico's hand clenched around his sword, and Bianca raised her polearm. They couldn't explain it, but the atmosphere had somehow changed. They felt more confident, more aware. Percy's previously imperceptible movements had slowed down, becoming visible.

"Something's going to happen." Nico softly spoke, eyes fixated on the fight. All manner of hesitation had abruptly left his form, as millennia of battle derived instinct took over. Where once an uncertain 12 year old boy stood, the echo of what he would become now reigned, a prince of the underworld, the king of ghosts.

Bianca nodded. She closed her eyes. They snapped open, stygian eyes steely and focused. The princess of the underworld gazed at her brother, a ghost of smirk crossing her lips. "You take left, I take right."

She didn't wait for a reply, extending her arms out to either side of her. Something was telling her to let go, to fall back. She did so, falling backwards as if she were a free diver. Tendrils of darkness erupted from her own shadow, engulfing their master in umbral energy as she vanished.

Nico kneeled to the forest floor, pressing a hand to the verdant surface. He closed his eyes. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing, but he knew he could feel something below him, something rumbling and begging to be released.

Percy smiled to himself even as silver fire rained down upon him, his saber lashing out and taking out yet another huntress. He lashed out with a kick, his steel toed boot impacting Anna's stomach like a battering ram. The huntress staggered backwards, gasping.

Bianca was everywhere and nowhere, somewhere between the immaterial and the material. She opened her eyes, seeing both nothingness and everything. Umbral energies cloaked her like a shroud, and she couldn't help but laugh, a giggle bubbling out of her. She couldn't believe that she'd once been so unsure of herself, so unbelieving. This was her birthright, her seat of power. She was the queen of shadows.

She directed her gaze out of the shadow, and saw Percy kick Anna back. For an infinitesimally small second, the formation of the hunters was broken, a glaring opening was created. To Bianca's new perception of time, it was an eternity. The demigoddess erupted out of Percy's shadow, still laughing in glee. Her nagamaki sliced through the air and came to a rest on Anna's throat, Bianca's eyes gleaming with joy and fury.

Anna raised her hand in surrender, stepping back. Percy nodded at Bianca, and she dipped her chin regally, taking position beside him. Her shadow boiled with umbral energy, unnaturally lengthening as the eldest demigoddess of Hades faced her first battle. She fell into it once more, before erupting out of another huntress's shadow, her polearm striking true.

The hunter's effective fighting force, between Bianca's ongoing intervention and Percy's stalwart defence, had been crippled by them alone. Percy risked a look to his left, and smiled as he saw the storm clouds and lightning fade. Thalia and the rest of their force must've dealt with the remnants on their side.

A small squad of demigods ran into the clearing behind the hunters, bearing a silver flag. Bianca moved to intercept, to escort them, but Nico was faster.

The ground shook, tearing apart into a yawning crevasse between Annabeth and the hunters. Nico extended his sword forth.

Skeletal hands clawed out of the trench, three pairs of empty eye sockets glaring at the hunters.

"Ensure that the flag gets delivered." Nico commanded, his eyes dark with power. His voice unnaturally carried, roiling with might.

The dead obeyed their master, and protected the sons and daughters of wisdom as they made their way to their side.

For the first time in decades, the campers won the day.


Percy's jacket was tattered and frayed, scorch marks and gashes marring the fabric. The durable kevlar jacket was no match for the divine might of the goddess of the hunt, even when channeled through her followers.

Upon hearing the horn of victory, Percy smiled. He flourished his sabar once more, his blade dancing through the air swiftly, before he sheathed it at his side.

Bianca appeared out of a shadow next to him, breathing heavily. Her face was flushed red, and he could see the shadowy crown atop her head fading away. Her polearm had shrank into its bracelet form, and it sat inconspicuously on her arm.

Nico staggered to the duo, leaning heavily on his sister. The sibling's combined exhaustion dragged them to the ground, and they leaned against each other, back to back.

"I…" Bianca began speaking amidst harsh breaths. "I didn't know I could do that! It was incredible."

Nico murmured, the exhaustion hitting the younger boy harder. "Yeah, it was awesome."

Percy smiled at the two, extending his hands towards them. "You've taken your first steps into a world much bigger than your own."

Bianca and Nico wearily took his hands, and Percy tugged them to their feet with ease, keeping them upright.

Cries of alarm suddenly broke the otherwise wholesome moment, and Perch turned around as best he was able while supporting the two teens.

The oracle of Delphi was walking through the forest, ethereal green mist billowing around her.