A/N: Sup guys. Got over 10k words for you guys this chapter so buckle in, its a long one. I know this might be a little weird for me to say but I'm starting to realise, going over past chapters since I've written around 75k words at this point but haven't published it all, that the story just becomes alot more fun for me to write and just seems more well written once I reach the events of The Lightning Thief, which isn't too far off now. Not that I am not happy with these current chapters but I'm just voicing my own opinions. Perhaps its just growth as an Auhtor since this is my first attempt at writing. I guess I will wait for your guys opinions as well once I publish those parts. Now that I'm typing, I don't know what I wanted to get out of saying that... meh, I'll just keep it in anyway.

Next order of business, the poll. Thanks for all who voted and the ones who pointed out my mistake at the start. I kept it blind in order for other votes to not influence your decisions but I was wondering if you guys wanted me to post a running vote count or leaderboard or something as I went along each week. Let me know. I also added Rachel as a request from a reader.

Finally, hope you guys enjoy this chapter and dont forget to follow, favourite, and leave a review! Ciao.


"Even if I wasn't the son of the God of Lies I could tell that goddess is holding shit back from you and lying her ass off." Marcus said once the message dissipated.

"Yeah, I picked up on that but I can't just leave some kid at the mercy of daemons when theirs a chance his Mum led him into a situation he had no clue about." I replied with a sigh.

"Then let us come with you." Jacob said determinedly.

"That's not happening, you're all staying. You can't harm these guys so you would just be a distraction and you know it," I replied sternly, causing everyone to slump back in their chairs at my command. We didn't technically have a second in command to Apollo like the hunters had a lieutenant with a circlet, but everyone recognised me as the leader and decision maker and wouldn't go against anything I asked of them if it was reasonable. There was enough trust and respect between us to not go behind each others backs.

I proceeded to arm myself, pulling a bow and quiver out of my inventory, both wooden with intricate gold designs depicting stories of Apollo from myth, standard Archers equipment. I was also wearing a black t shirt, black cargo pants and black combat boots.

Originally, the standard uniform was supposed to be the gold fleece jacket as well as gold tops, but I pointed out to Apollo that it was counterproductive considering monsters found it a lot easier to spot us trying to sneak up on them considering we were all basically massive light bulbs. Somehow, he saw that as a positive. Something about being the light in the dark. I wasn't really listening because his argument was in the form of a Haiku and I had to walk off before I ended up dying by awful poetry. Not even Gamer's Mind could block out the migraines Apollo's poetry caused, something I didn't know whether to admire him for or shove a sock in his mouth. Marcus didn't see why we couldn't do both.

Apollo eventually relented after 2 weeks of constant complaining from me and Marcus, giving us black alternate uniforms, which I was currently wearing. The combat boots had gold laces, the cargo pants gold zippers and stitching and the t shirt had a gold A printed in cursive where the left pectoral is as well as a golden phoenix on the right pectoral. It wasn't completely incognito but the best we could get Apollo to agree on in terms of amount of Gold on the uniforms.

He also didn't tell anyone about the phoenix he was adding, annoying me a lot. Apparently I was a co creator so deserved recognition, something everyone else but me agreed on so I couldn't fight it. I felt a bit self-centered when wearing it but it was still better and more practical than full gold. I also had ambrosia, nectar and my xiphos in my inventory as well as my shield currently on my left arm as a bracelet so I felt well prepared.

On my way out of the tent Max informed me of what he knew about the daemons I would face. "The Algea are spirits of pain, both physical and mental. According to myth, they can cause unimaginable pain upon touching their victims, something that is constant, can incapacitate the victim and apparently only able to be cured by a god or stopped by the daemons that incurred it. I looked into any other cures awhile back in case we came up against them and found nothing. Since you don't have a god currently on hand I would recommend not being touched by them. Are you sure we shouldn't wait for Apollo so he can help if needed?" Max summed up for me.

"We don't have time and he'd be here with us if he wasn't busy so there's no point contacting him. I have to do this myself."

"Fine. But if you're not back in 2 hours we are coming for you, I don't care about your damned orders." Max replied, leaving no room for discussion on the subject.

"Yes Doc." I said with an eye roll before using the constellations in the night sky to guide me east of our current campsite.

We were currently camped out at Bitterroot National Forest in Montana, which was within a mountain range, in the middle of April. I figured that I would find a cave entrance attached to the side of a Mountain or hill at some point so just started walking eastwards, keeping an eye out for potential threats. It was clear out, the skies unobstructed, no clouds in sight. I imagined it was somewhat similar to what the night sky looked like in Ancient Greece, stars shining and moon glowing, before humans and pollution stopped caring how they treated the Earth. It was a welcome change. Recently there had been quite a few storms and torrential downpours across the USA, plaguing our group as we went about saving demigods. It didn't help that Apollo seemed to be really distracted as well. He was always not entirely there when joining us on our missions and training. He also often had to leave abruptly and was spending less time with us as a group then he used to when it was just himself and I.

I knew it wasn't his choice either but I had no idea what was going on with him. He refused to tell us anything and tried to pretend everything was normal but the Archers knew that was a lie. I decided that I would make him tell me the next time we saw each other. Apollo had taken me in when I was alone and trained me, protected me from even his father. He was the person I was closest to despite him being a god. And if he was struggling with a problem, I wouldn't let him do so alone. But for now I needed to bring my focus back to the mission at hand.

As expected, I came across a cave entrance 10 feet wide buried inside a mountain within a 25 minutes of leaving. What surprised me about it was there didn't seem to be any sort of public path anywhere near the cave entrance and it was surrounded by underbrush and low hanging trees, keeping it quite well hidden. Only someone who was looking for this place would have found it, making me wonder just how much Bellona wasn't telling me.

Outside of the cave was what looked like a 4-foot-tall ghost at first, keeping watch. It looked like a severely anorexic half naked elderly woman turned spirit. She was thankfully wearing some long, ripped blue material as a skirt but her/its frail body and chest were on display for the whole world to see. I don't even know how it was holding up the makeshift skirt since it looked like it didn't have a physical form since its pale skin was half see-through and it was floating slightly off the ground. It had only a few strands of hair falling down its back and had the face of a stereotypical witch, a big nose with a wart on it, wrinkled skin and only half its teeth present in its mouth. I used Observe on it.

Algos

Lvl- 9
Race- Daemon
Age- 417

Health- 1,500/1,500 HP
Mana- 3,000/3,000 MP

Str- 1
End- 13
Vit- 5
Dex- 28
Int- 8
Wis- 6
Luc- 0

The physical representation of mental and physical pain, the Algea are a mix of daemon and spirit, although the little time they have spent out of the Underworld has meant that there isn't much known about them to the outside world. They cannot be harmed unless by a child of the Underworld or Darkness or by a Stygian Iron blade as they do not have a physical form. However, If even a tiny bit of their spirit touches its victim, they will feel unimaginable pain, enough to put the person into a pain induced coma and eventually kill them.

They have never met Phoenix so have no opinion of him.

It was surprisingly weak. The only reason it was dangerous was because it only had to touch you once to incapacitate you and the fact it couldn't be harmed by most demigods. I then had a quick browse of my own stats to see how I would fair in a fight, assuming that those stats I just saw were that of an average Algea.

Phoenix 'Nick' Dhana, Son of Pluto

Race- Demigod

Gender- Male
Age- 12
Titles- Son of Pluto, Universe Trekker, Apollo's Champion (Full)

Level- 12
Exp- 200/3,000
Health- 1,850/1,850 HP (+200HP per level, 10% HP/min regen)
Mana- 1,300/1,300 MP (+150MP per level, 9% MP/min regen)

Str- 18 (+5+5) = 28
End- 18 (+5+5) = 28
Vit- 20 (+5+5) = 30
Dex- 24(+5+10) = 39
Int- 22
Wis- 20
Luc- 12

Money- $1,890 / 28 D / 160 d

Sta- 36
PP- 18

Skills

Observe- Lvl 10 (12%)

Activating this skill will show you information on the person/object you wish to use the skill on. Observing people of higher levels than you will lead to less information being available to you. As you level up Observe, more information about the target will become available to see as well as being able to use the skill on beings at a greater disparity to you Level-wise.

Current info-Level, Race, Health, Age (less than 1000), Mana and stats as well as a description and their opinion of you.

Critical Strike- Lvl 8 (26%)

When your attacks pierce or hit a specifically vulnerable area of your opponent, the damage done will multiply based on your Critical Strike level. Hint: all males of any species with a dick are vulnerable to inoculation (Source material: So You Want To Be A Hunter Of Artemis)

+640% damage when a strike is seen as a Critical Strike (+20 % each level)

Deadly Strike- Lvl MAX

Deadly Strike kills the opponent immediately. This can be due to a multitude of reasons such as stabbing an opponent through vital organs or dismemberment.

Drops opponents HP by 100% when a strike is seen as a Deadly Strike

Sneaking- Lvl 15 (34%)

Your ability to move from place to place or follow someone without being caught, seen or heard.

+75% chance of successfully sneaking without being noticed.

+30% chance of Critical Strike when attacking unnoticed.

Tracking- Lvl 14 (88%)

Your ability to pick up and follow a targets trail without losing it. Become a feared hunter of mortal and immortal beasts alike.

+42% chance to not lose track of a target. (+3% per level)

English Language- Lvl 15 (14%)

Your ability to understand anything you read and the speed you read at. Due to your dyslexia, you struggle to understand what is in front of you but with Gamer System, you can finally conquer it.

You understand everything you read (+5% every level)

Current reading level- College

Latin- Lvl MAX

Due to your heritage, you naturally can speak and read Latin fluently. Who said it was a dead language?

Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology- Lvl 26 (53%)

Your knowledge of the myths and legends of Ancient Greece and Rome. This is a highly useful skill for demigods due to monsters reforming and roaming the world and knowledge on the subject is often the difference between life and death in the outside world for them.

You are very knowledgeable on the subject of Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology.

Swordsmanship- Lvl 11 (63%)

The deadliness and familiarity with which you wield swords using an Ancient Greek style of swordplay, best for one on one combat compared to a Roman form.

+55% damage when wielding a sword and using this type of swordplay.

Archery- Lvl 18 (0%) (+15) = Lvl 33

With this skill, become a true hunter, using the ranged weapons of old to take down your enemies from range just like the twin archers.

+165% damage when using a bow

+66% speed at nocking an arrow

Heal- Lvl 2 (9%)

You have the ability to heal others, although it is limited. You can heal flesh wounds, punctured lungs, bleeding status effects, broken bones etc. but stronger, more difficult injuries cannot be dealt with by you (poison effects, cancer and so forth)

Cost- 45 MP per 10HP (-5MP per Level)

Lie detection- Lvl 9 (83%)

You are a human lie detector. Get a notification when the system picks up a lie that was said in your presence. As you level up this skill, more lies can be sensed and less can fool the system.

+45% chance of detecting a lie. Decreases based on ability of Liar and the Lie told

Umbrakinesis- Lvl 9 (89%)

As a child of Pluto you have control over the shadows around you, able to manipulate them as you see fit. You can use them to create physical constructs as well as move them using mana.

84 MP per m2 of shadows manipulated (-2 MP per level)

Subskills

Shadow Wall- 3 HP of Damage Protection per 1 MP of put into skill.

Shadow Binds- Holds target in place using a shadow as an anchor. The more MP put into it, the stronger the bind is.

Precious Metal Manipulation- Lvl 5 (12%)

All the precious metals beneath the Earth are your birth right, magical included. Take control and bend them to your will, sensing and reaching out to them whether they have been purified and repurposed or are still within the Earth.

192 MP per Kg of Precious metals controlled. (-2 MP per level)

Mist Manipulation- Lvl 4 (72%)

Due to your godly DNA, you have the ability to manipulate the Mist to a certain degree. Although not at the level a follower or child of Hecate could do so, you can manipulate it to fool those less magically inclined than yourself.

You can change mortals memories and what they see, even clear-sighted ones.

Photokinesis- ?

Yeah. I still hadn't figured out how to access my Photokinesis powers. I asked Apollo about it but he said I probably just didn't have the ability to do so since only a few of his children in history ever had been blessed with the ability. I couldn't really argue about it all things considered. I couldn't just say that some weird program in my head said I could. He did teach me low level mist manipulation though in case the Archers ever ran into trouble with mortals. It was very useful as was to be expected.

I had also discovered another one of my inherited powers and been training both of them, if a bit reluctantly, since my last meeting with Pluto. But that wasn't important right now. My much higher dexterity meant that even once in the confined space of a cave I should've been able to kill any Algea before they could get to me. Both my bow and arrows or my Xiphos could kill them relatively easily if I hit critical strikes.

The even greater news about this situation is that I had a way to make sure I hit critical strikes. Even though I hadn't mentioned it, I had been looking at the Perk tree every so often to see what I could get. Only the bottom few skills were available and then they branched out to different ones, that were currently blurred out and dark. I hadn't currently bought anything as of yet as they were mostly power based and I wanted to see what my limits were first before I invested in anything that might be a waste. However, I wasn't about to take any chances against daemons that could literally incapacitate me with one touch. So I brought up the perk tree and made my first purchase, causing a few other perks above it to light up and to come into focus, not that I cared about them at the moment.

-5 Perk Points.

New Perk Added!

Bane of Hell

With this perk, you have a connection and command over those who belong to the Underworld and other pantheons versions of it. You do greater damage to daemons, ghosts, escaped souls, the undead, skeletons, demons, Godly beings of any version of Hell, etc.

100% chance that all strikes against beings of any Hell are Critical Strikes

75% Chance that you can take command of enemy creatures of Hell if you are a greater level than them and their master.

It was relatively cheap considering how overpowered it is in my current situation. Well over 640% extra damage to all Algea for every strike no matter what? Well worth it.

Deciding to test out this theory, I nocked an arrow onto my bow whilst using Observe on it.

Imperial Gold Tipped Arrow

An arrow crafted and used by the Archers of Apollo, this arrow's tip is made of imperial gold, making it deadly to divines, demi-divines and monsters.

250 Damage when shot with ranged weaponry.

100 Damage when used otherwise.

By doing a quick calculation in my head, I realised it would only take one arrow to kill the Algos no matter what. With that information, I pulled my bow string back and let the arrow fly. It flew true, hitting the Algos straight in the chest and causing it to instantly go poof into a quickly dissipating white mist. No golden dust. I wonder if that meant they didn't reform like normal monster.

250 + 250 x 1.65 + 250 x 6.4 = 2,263 damage
Algos Health = 0 / 2,100 HP

+50 Exp
+$10

With the entrance clear of threats, I slowly walked into the cave, nocking another arrow as I did so. Soon it was completely dark as there was no lighting to guide the way. However, I knew that there were creatures within the cave and the general direction of them as I walked down a hollowed out hallway. I don't know how I knew that there were other daemons down there with me but I did. Not just assumed. I knew. I got a new notification but decided to ignore it for now, more focused on being able to see where I was going.

As soon as I wished I could see, my vision and senses shockingly started to adjust. Suddenly, it was like I knew where everything was that was around me, not seeing it per say but sensing it, my connection to the darkness around me giving me a clear picture of my surroundings. I received another notification so decided to take a look at it as well as the one I missed since I knew I was not in any immediate danger.

Ping

New Perks acquired!

Eyes of the Owl

Wow! Have you been eating your carrots? Just joking, your fathers sacred animal is the screech owl. Because of this, you have the gift of its night vision. The darkness does not inhibit your senses, rather it feeds you information on the world around you where it is within its grasp.

Tunnel Vision

As a child of the man who has been underground for nearly his entire existence, you have a natural affinity with all underground complexes. You have an innate sense of where tunnel systems and caves lead to.

Well those were certainly useful for the situation I was in, even if it felt like the first one was stepping in on Athena's territory. With the perk Bane of Hell it was like I was specially built for this mission. I entered the cave and started to slowly explore it. I soon discovered that it was a massive winding cave system with torches only appearing once every 300 meters or so, I assume to confuse those who weren't supposed to be here. Unfortunately for them, the Algea were basically leading me towards whatever they didn't want me to see since whenever I was at a crossroads, there was one close enough that Eyes of the Owl or Tunnel Vision helped me sense them so I just went in their direction since they were probably patrolling and guarding the way to wherever the Son of Bellona was. After about 25 minutes of walking I had killed nearly 30 Algea.

28 Algos killed

50 Exp x 28 = 1,400 Exp
$10 x 28 = $280

+1 Dex for continuously using a bow for a long period of time.

The Algea weren't any problem as even when they had over 2,800 HP I discovered I just had to aim for the head since it would be a deadly strike. Even when they were in groups the speed at which I could nock arrows and shoot meant they stood no chance.

I eventually turned one last corner and reached a huge open space that was well lit by torches. There was basic furniture dotted about the place but that was it. I guess daemons don't need much. Decorating the cave walls were depictions of all types of tortures, battles and deaths that looked newly added and were way too detailed. If I wasn't a son of Pluto or used to such scenes from being a part of the Archers, I would have probably been scarred for life from the detail of the paintings on the walls. I didn't have anytime to truly look at them as I was distracted by what was happening around 50 meters ahead of me at the other side of the cave.

Unconscious and drenched in sweat, 3 people were hanging slightly off the ground by their wrists, iron chains wrapped around them and attached to the wall. The only reason I knew all of them were alive was because as I walked towards them I noticed the slowly rising and deflating chests that indicated they were breathing. I hid in the shadows, using Umbrakinesis to manipulate the shadows to wrap around me so I was hidden. The reason for this was the two daemons and unidentifiable woman with their backs to me, the woman holding a ceremonial celestial bronze knife whilst he daemons hovered just behind her. The woman was clearly not human though. She had a golden dress and jet black long hair but that was as close to a normal mortal as she got. She looked like she been cut straight down the middle and had two separate bodies stuck together. The left half of her body was pale white as if it had been completely drained of blood, whilst the right side was black and hardened like a mummy.

"We have everything we need. The demigod, the last sacrifice we needed, just happened to be following the child." The woman said in a smooth, melodic voice that sounded familiar but I couldn't put my finger on why.

"Should we not be worried about the fact he is a member of the Legion? They will come looking for him wont they?" One of the daemons asked in a raspy voice.

"You worry too much. He was not sent by the Legion otherwise we would have already known he was coming." The woman replied. "No, he was sent by someone else to kill the boy. Probably a god who was alerted of the demi-titans existence. Although it is admirable that he did not rat out the contractor whilst under your torture."

My eyes bulged at the proclamation before looking back at the three unconscious people chained to the wall. There was a beautiful woman with black hair who looked about 20, a Caucasian boy about 16 or 17 who was relatively well built yet lean and silver hair, and finally a guy who looked like a college football player, tall and very muscled, close to body builder level muscle. He had the same Latin American look and black hair as Bellona, telling me this was her son. I used Observe on him first.

Mateo Fiel, Son of Bellona

Lvl- 48
Race- Demigod
Age- 22

Health- 2,200/13,600 HP
Mana- 4,000/4,000 MP

Str- 61
End- 57
Vit- 42
Dex- 47
Int- 35
Wis- 27
Luc- 22

Mateo Fiel is a member of the First Cohort of the Twelth Legion. He has been part of the Legion since he was 13 and quickly became one of the most skilled combatants and a good battle strategist thanks to his heritage as the son of a War deity. He was never given attention by his father, making it something he craved, trying to prove himself to anyone of greater rank then him. Bellona noticed this very early on as well as his skill during his time in the Legion, subtly making sure he never rose to Centurion or higher so his sole focus would be gaining his mothers love and attention if he couldn't get the Legion's. She used this to get him to do many morally questionable things on her orders, including assassination missions the Legion knows nothing about, most targeting Demi-Titans.

He has never met Phoenix so has no opinion of him.

So he didn't just stumble upon this place, Bellona sent him on a mission. Even if secretive, Bellona wouldn't just lie about why he was here and not mention of another demi-divine to me of she was not trying to hide something. Or more importantly someone. This brought my attention to the boy in the middle of the other two.

Agothane, Son of Iapetus

Lvl- 10
Race- Demi-Titan
Age- 16

Health- 1,200/3,500 HP
Mana- 1,000/1,000 MP

Str- 16
End- 23
Vit- 25
Dex- 14
Int- 13
Wis- 12
Luc- 5

Agothane was raised in an enclosed compound by allies of the Titans, raised to believe the Gods were evil and his enemies. However, he was always suspicious of their proclamations of the history books telling lies and that he was often taught by those who were not caring for the mortal world. One day when he was 8, he overheard that he was being raised to be a strong enough sacrifice to raise his father, causing himself and other Demi-Titans to break out of the compound together, eventually splitting up in order to hide themselves from both the Titans and the Gods.

He has never met Phoenix so has no opinion of him.

A son of the Elder Titans? Considering his stats at such a low level, meaning he probably never trained or went on quests, he was powerful. I suspected as powerful as a child of the Big Three, although this was just guess work as I had never met one other than myself and I was hardly someone to consider normal. Plus, I didn't know if he had any powers. Back to the son of Iapetus, he looked the worst of all 3 of the prisoners, a nasty stab wound gracing his lower right abdomen. It was crudely cauterised but the loss of blood was clear from the amount that stained his t shirt, trousers and the floor. Considering its size, I knew the ceremonial knife hadn't caused it, meaning that it was probably caused by the son of Bellona and was then cauterised by himself or the woman with the knife since she needed him alive for the sacrifice.

Reading his description though caused a problem. It meant that Mateo was sent here to kill the guy when he had probably never committed a crime against the Gods. Damn Jupiter's paranoia. I promised myself to keep him safe and have a talk with a certain War Goddess later. But for now I had to focus on saving the 3 chained up peoples lives, even if one of them was trying to kill the other. I was pretty sure whatever was being fed energy by the sacrifice was worse than some roided up assassin. Which brought me to the chained up woman.

Rhode, Goddess of Rhodes Island

Lvl- ?

I was confused as to how they managed to trap a goddess. One who normally resides in Europe or I assume the Sea due to her parents being Poseidon or Amphitrite. They weren't even using Celestial Bronze chains so I had no clue how they were keeping her here unless she had been unconscious the entire time. Either way, the three jailers were taking a massive risk by not keeping her chained properly. I turned back to the woman in front of me and was shocked by what I saw.

Melinoe, Goddess of Ghosts

Lvl- ?

I wasn't expecting to come up against a goddess, even if she was only considered a 'minor' one. Not to mention the fact she was technically my sister. Melinoe was an unknown. I knew I could take the two Algea by her side but I had no idea what the goddess could do and wasn't so conceited that I would believe that I could take a minor goddess at my current level with no knowledge of her abilities. No, I needed a plan, a way to even the odds and make sure I could at least put up a fight if she was skilled in combat.

Luckily, I managed to come up with one, even if risky, just as Melinoe was about to start whatever ritual she was trying to do. Since I had started focusing on the victims and a plan, she had drawn a circle around all the other occupants in the room, including the daemons, with what looked like her own Ichor if her cut up arm and the gold was anything to go by. The stained ceremonial blade suggested that was the device she used to cut herself as well. Stopping right in front of Agothane, She started to chant, her Ichor starting to glow as she did so.

"Sacrificing representations of your form I raise you from the Depths

Using your child as a representation of your anchoring connection

Using a Goddess as a representation of your divine connection

Using a Demigod as a representation of your Major Domain of Mortality

Using a Daemon of Pain as a representation of your Major Domain of Pain

Using one who brings pain and death with just a touch as a representation of your Domain of Violent Death

I bring you forth Iap-"

I decided to interrupt Melinoe's little sacrifice session, which I now knew she was doing to raise the Titan Iapetus, with two consecutive arrows that hit both Daemons straight in the head before they even knew it was coming, stepping out of the shadows as I did so. Melinoe was so shocked by this that she didn't even react after turning around to see what happened, just staring at me mouth agape.

"Hey sis, nice sacrifice you got there." I said with a smirk. That sure as hell broke her out of her stupor. Whether its because of how great or bad my one-liner was… Well, I prefer to stay positive. I can always blame the system as I stole it off the quest name anyway.

"You will regret that Hades Spawn." She spat out as I started to slowly move left, staying about 20 feet away from her but keeping my bow drawn.

"You are aware your Dad is also Hades, right?" I replied whilst chuckling. What was with everyone's oblivious self deprecation involving their parents? First the hunters, now my dear old sister. Not bothering to correct her about being a son of Pluto, the less she knew about me, the better. Melinoe would have figured out I was her brother from the fact I could kill the Algea and probably my aura so I was fine with her knowing that.

Melinoe seemed to almost growl at me reminding her that she had Hades as a father, not that I couldn't relate after our last encounter, but I didn't hate the guy like the goddess of Ghosts did.

"Our Father is an idiot who has tried to cage me for the last Millennia. Won't let me haunt people during the day. Won't let me take the Daemons out with me to remind the mortals they should fear us, forgetting of our entire existence bit by bit. Then the bastard tries to make me eat Cereal everyday in order to appease Demeter and get another month of the year with my mother in the Underworld, saying he can blame the delay of Spring on 'Global Warming'. I will make him suffer. If it takes the Rise of the Titans to usurp him then so be it." Melinoe said with a sneer.

I would have found the whole forcing cereal down her throat thing amusing if she wasn't about to kill 3 people. Instead, I took one more step to the left, lining up a shot and firing. Only for it to fly to the right of the goddess's head, clipping a little bit of Melinoe's hair off as it did so. She just stood there for a few moments looking at me wide eyed before starting to laugh.

"You can't even hit me when I'm not moving yet you think you can actually stop me?" She cackled.

"I don't assume I could beat you. I have no idea what your capable of or your combat prowess. You're still a goddess, even if not an Olympian, and managed to capture another immortal and two demi-divines. It would be stupid of me to underestimate you." I replied honestly.

"Your flattery is appreciated but it wont save you." She said, amused. Then her whole demeanor changed as the room got darker and the temperature dropped to close to freezing.

"I am the goddess of ghosts, I am your worst nightmares, your greatest regrets. They say that it's the ghosts of your past that haunt you. Let's find out who haunts you, brother." She said evilly as I felt the familiar tug in the back of my head that told me Melinoe was trying to search my memories. However, soon the roles of the one smiling were reversed as she began to sport a look of slight shock, the intimidating atmosphere returning to normal.

"If an Olympian couldn't get past my mental barriers, you sure as hell aren't either sis." I said smugly. Melinoe started to look a bit worried but it quickly turned into anger. She took a step towards me, ceremonial knife in hand, but stopped and hesitated when I nocked another arrow and aimed it straight at her.

"Ha, you already admitted you are out of your depth and clearly you don't know how to aim with that bow." Melinoe said, regaining her confidence and holding the dagger up and pointing it at me. However, it brought my attention to her grip on the weapon, one of an amateur who had never been properly taught to wield a blade.

"Actually, I never said that I couldn't kill you. Just that I didn't know if I could and considering how your holding your blade, I am a lot more confident than I was a minute ago."

"I might not be a fighter but your clearly not one either. I'm a goddess and you're just a wannabe hero who can't hit anything. My raw power is more than enough to kill you." She spat.

"I might not have hit you but who said I was trying to?" I replied with a smile. Melinoe froze up at that, turning around when she heard the sound of a chain being ripped off the wall. Only to be sent sprawling to the floor by a punch to the face by a very pissed off sea goddess.

When I fired the arrow that clipped Melinoe's hair I was actually aiming for one of the chains that were holding Rhode, which I hit perfectly, breaking it and changing Rhode's position so that she was suddenly having her whole body hanging by one hand as well as her feet now touching the floor. Melinoe didn't seem to notice the sound of the arrow breaking the iron chains or she just didn't care, more proof she had no idea what she was doing. The sudden change had caused Rhode to begin to stir, just like I hoped, but she clearly had been sedated in some way as it took her awhile to wake up and gage her surroundings.

That left me to stall and distract Melinoe as she did so, subtly using the conversation to explain I was here to help Rhode and stop Melinoe in case she didn't know how she got here. Once she had her bearings and recovered enough, we locked eyes and she gave me a nod whilst holding her spare hand on the only chain keeping her trapped, ripping it off the wall before storming forward ten feet and punching Melinoe in the nose, sending her to the floor. The Goddess of ghosts groaned in pain, clutching her nose as ichor flowed out of it like a mini golden waterfall.

"Stupid bitch. You don't even know how to keep a goddess captured, using normal iron chains." Rhode taunted before summoning a celestial bronze sword and cutting the wrist cuffs of both unanchored chains off herself. I just watched, amused by the whole thing as Melinoe looked up in fear. Rhode just walked up to her with a sinister smile and grabbed her by the neckline of her dress, swatting away a feeble attempt at a slash by Melinoe with her sword before knocking my sister out by hitting her on the head with the hilt of her sword.

"Thank you demigod. I would help you and the other two but I was expected at my Father's Palace when I was captured by this excuse for a goddess and her disgusting lackies. I imagine he has sent many a search party looking for me so its best I take my leave. Preferably with this embarrassment of a goddess with me as prisoner so she can see what happens when you mess with the sea." Rhode said, turning to face me but never letting go of the unconscious goddess.

"I got no problem with that. I'm pretty sure I killed all the Algea so we should be fine. Tell Neptune I said Hello and to not hold back on my sister. She deserves all she gets. I'm Nick by the way." I replied with a smile.

"Rhode. I once again thank you. The Royal Family of Atlantis owes you. Do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything son of Pluto." Rhode paused a moment and then an amused smile graced her lips. "Or maybe if you wait a few years I can show you how grateful I am more… personally." She said whilst eyeing me up like a piece of meat. I just gulped at the insinuation, causing her to laugh before disappearing with Melinoe in a flash of golden light. Damn beautiful goddess playing with me for her own amusement.

"Now what to do about you two?" I pondered out loud, looking back at the other chained up individuals. Deciding that leaving an assassin restrained was a good idea for now, I walked towards the son of Iapetus, taking my imperial gold Xiphos out of my inventory and cutting him free with it. Unfortuntely, I forgot the chains were the only thing holding him up so once I cut him free he just fell to the floor. Luckily, I was fast enough to drop my sword and grab his head before it could hit the floor. After muttering a swear word under my breath for my rashness, I then slowly shook the demi-titan awake. He groaned for a few seconds before his eyes fluttered open.

He regarded me for a moment as he took in his surroundings before gaining a panicked look in his eyes and trying to get away. Only to back up into the wall he was chained to, leaning his back against it whilst wincing, grabbing his cauterised wound with his hand and inspecting it.

"Hey, Hey man. Calm down. The daemons are dead and the Goddess is gone now." I said in a calming voice as Agothane looked around the room. He seemed to calm down when he noticed that the people who trapped him were in fact gone. At least, he did until he came across his attempted murderer, who was still tied up. When he noticed the son of Bellona, Agothane proceeded to regain the fear in his eyes.

"H-He tried to kill me." He said shakily.

"I know, that's why he's still chained up. For now, don't worry about him. I'll protect you if he wakes up and he's restrained at the moment anyway. Now calm down and eat this." I replied, offering him a cube of Ambrosia from my inventory. Clearly, he knew what it was as he eyed it greedily before taking it and scoffing it down. He gained a content look, relaxing as the healing power of the godly food did its job.

"Thank you." He said, sighing at the obvious pain relief he felt.

"No problem." I replied, smiling.

"Why are you helping me?" He asked, looking at me sceptically. I had a moment of thought before replying.

"I was actually sent here to save that scum over there by his mother." I said, pointing at the entrapped demigod. "However, she did not tell me that he was hunting innocent people because of their divine parentage. Once I figured that out, I changed my mission. You shouldn't be judged and hunted for who your father is."

"You say that like you know what its like?" He asked.

"Not in exactly the same way, but yeah." I replied, not willing to expand on it further. I wasn't even talking about being a son of Pluto and therefore being a possible victim of Jupiter's wrath as well. That was a cakewalk at the moment when you have the Moirai backing you up compared to being an Asian living in England in the 1930's, something that was rare at the time. So rare that, other than my grandfather for the first 4 years until he died, I had never met and chatted to another Indian other than my mother despite living in England's most populated city, only seeing a few in my childhood years living there. I was lucky that this was before the immigration acts started being passed by parliament in the 1960's, as this is when the violence of far-right political supporters and racists started to properly emerge. But that didn't mean I had an easy life.

I was born when India was still under the control of The British Empire. Therefore, a lot of people thought they were above me and my mother, believing themselves to be something more than ourselves. It was mostly looks, which you get used to, but it didn't make it any less painful. Then there were the times that kids wouldn't play with me outside in the school playground, the times I heard my mother crying to Pluto, when he still came by, about how patients would refuse treatment from her because of the colour of her skin, the times when people would actively cross the street so they didn't have to get close to us. Not even including the racial slurs and discriminatory comments. My mother thought I didn't notice the subtle things, and luckily the Phoenix in control at that time was smart enough to not worry her by mentioning that I did.

In a lot of ways, of course it was easier now but that didn't make it any less unsettling when I went into the mortal world. The difference is that it was seen as wrong so most try to hide their distaste. Not to mention it was only a few years after 9/11, increasing tensions. I noticed as I hung out with other Archers, cashiers would pay more attention to what I bought compared to them, security guards would always see me as a threat, following me round with their eyes or less subtly in some cases, people were less likely to take a free seat on public transport when they saw I was the one sat in the chair next to it. Others don't notice it and its nowhere near as frequent as it used to be but I still see it.

It's like some secret that a minority in America all keep hidden from the rest of the country. Or at least they try to. Or the more worrying theory that they don't even realise what their doing. I don't know whether I preferred it this way or during the time I lived in before. Yes, it was more prominent and obvious back then, but at least it was acknowledged. The ones who were racist didn't hide it. Now though, society sees it as wrong, so they become more discreet. Our own friends call us paranoid or 'reading too much into something' when we bring it up. To have your friends defend some randomer, calling you crazy for seeing yourself being treated different might be most painful bit of it all.

I was lucky I didn't have to go into the mortal world often but that doesn't mean I didn't feel for every one of my racially diverse brothers or sisters that did have to deal with the bigotry that plagued American society, especially the African American community. Now that I think about it, other than magic and godly power making menial tasks more convenient, a lack of racism, in terms of skin colour, might be the only thing about the divine world that made it better than the mortal one. However, that was replaced by other forms of discrimination such as Olympians believing themselves and their children are above everyone else or hunting down innocent demi-titans.

Divine discrimination aside, Agothane seemed to understand that I didn't want to talk about my past so we just moved on. I introduced myself, explaining my parentage and the Archers of Apollo to him as well as how Bellona contacted me but I changed my mind on saving her son once I found out why he was here. I also told him that I knew who his father was and that I didn't judge him for it, something Agothane thanked me for. I wanted the guy to trust me so the less he had to hide, the better.

"How exactly did you end up here anyway? The cave is pretty far out the way of civilisation." I asked, causing Agothane to take on a sheepish look.

"I kind of had a dream about the area. I live around half an hour away so I recognized the place as Bitterroot. It seemed to be drawing me in during the dream and a whisper told me to come here, that I would find a safe place. I had no idea what was here but I've moved from foster home to foster home for the last 4 years," He said sadly.

"And this dream offered you a chance at a permanent home, maybe a family." I finished off, to which he just nodded.

"But it was just a trap. I found the cave quite easily, once I was within around 10 miles of it, it was like a beacon that I was naturally drawn to. But I didn't notice the prick that was following me from behind." Agothane said, looking at Mateo in disgust.

"Once I was in the cave, he attacked, stabbing me with an imperial gold gladius before trying to take this." He said, showing me a silver necklace on his neck with a hearth charm on it. I used Observe on it as I could tell it was magical in nature. It was like a sixth sense.

Necklace of Hope (Blessed by Hestia)

A necklace blessed by Hestia so that whoever wears it never feels devoid of hope and will always find shelter, a hearth to stay at when they need it most. Given to the Demi-titans that first escaped the Titans when Hestia found them together, sensing their lack of hope.

"A gift from Hestia?" I asked him. He seemed hesitant to answer at first, realising he just potentially put the goddess who helped him in danger. "Don't worry. I'm not going to out her to the bastards that sent that demigod after you. I swear on the Styx I am just here to help." I assured him. I felt a connection form upon my oath being made between myself and him. I just shrugged it off as a Child of the Underworld thing.

"A few others and myself were alone, hungry and without shelter. We were almost all ready to give up at that point. But then Hestia showed up and offered us home cooked food and gave us tents to stay in as well as supplies. She didn't even ask for anything in return, not our heritage or what we were doing there. Hestia offered us hope when we needed it most whilst asking for nothing in return. She gave us each a necklace like this that she said was blessed by her, that it would help us find a home when we needed it, that we would never be devoid of hope again." Agothane said, taking a moment as it was clearly making him emotional to talk about.

"But she said we couldn't stay together. That we would attract too many monsters and eventually the gods interest as we had the scent of an Olympian, some with ones as strong as a child of the three sons of Kronos and Rhea. At first we were hesitant to listen to Hestia but all she did was try to help us so we had no reason not to believe her. In the end, we all agreed to it, heading our separate ways the next day with enough supplies to survive until we found somewhere permanent. Hestia never lied either. For the last 4 years I always found a home when I needed it, no matter how temporary." Agothane explained with a far away look in his eyes.

"Who are these people you were originally with?" I asked. Agothane looked towards the son of Bellona, obviously fearful he would overhear. I decided to ease his worries by waving my hand at him, covering the assassin's entire head with shadows. "He wont be able to hear us even if he wasn't knocked out." I told him.

"Thank you. I can't let him find out and hunt down the others." Agothane said.

"How do you know he hasn't already gone after any of them?" I asked, remembering that Mateo had been on multiple assassination missions.

"He couldn't have. When he saw my necklace after he stabbed me, he seemed surprised by it. Not to mention that he went to grab it, burning himself in the process. The necklace lights itself on fire whenever it is being attempted to be stolen. He would have known that if he had gone after the others." Agothane explained. This set off alarms in my head as Mateo's description said that he had gone on assassination missions before targeting demi-titans. I had a feeling I was uncovering something huge. And unfortunately, I was very limited in what I could do about it. From what I had been told of Bellona by Apollo, she was basically Jupiter's right hand and was insanely loyal to him as his daughter, replacing Athena in the Roman Pantheon as Minerva didn't have a War domain and generally hated Romans. I highly doubted that she would go on some rogue hunting operation of Demi-Titans without Jupiter's knowledge. That meant I didn't know if the entire council had agreed to this, after all it only took six votes, including Jupiter's, for it to be allowed to happen.

I needed answers. Who were these other demi-titans they were killing? How many people knew what was happening? Who were the other Demi-Titans that were going to be sacrificed to bring back their parents? The problem was I knew the only place I could get answers right now was the 16-year-old in front of me. I couldn't bring Apollo into this. If he knew of these missions, he would be obligated to inform Olympus and take Agothane with him. If he didn't know about them, this would cause a massive problem within the council. He was already about to explode when he found out that Jupiter was hiding an Ancient Law that could have benefit his children from the whole council. This would tip him over the edge. With the divide that would occur within the council when the Lightning Bolt is stolen, to know Jupiter was hiding two huge things that I had found out would be sure to cause an actual war to break out.

This brought up another question. Why would Bellona ask me to save her kid? If it could blow up some massive secret, surely she would have sent another one of her children she could trust or in fact anyone but me, even if I was close by. Surely she knew I would not agree with what was taking place considering my reasons for wanting to create the Archers of Apollo in the first place. I decided to voice my concerns to Agothane. He took a moment of thought before his eyes opened in realisation.

"He was talking to his mother before the daemons appeared and after he stabbed me and I was bleeding out. It's how she must have known he was captured." He explained to me.

"How was he talking to her?"

"Using a bracelet with a charm on it. I couldn't hear what the person was saying on the other end, just him."

"What exactly was said?" I questioned, intending to gain as much information as possible.

Agothane POV

Between 12 and 24 hours ago

Agothane lay on the floor, bleeding out from a stab wound to his lower left torso. He was struggling to stay awake, knowing that losing consciousness would almost certainly mean he would die. Weirdly enough, he didn't feel the pain from the stab wound, just a massive drain of energy that it caused leaving him immobile, clutching the open wound as he slowly died. Next to him stood the man who stabbed him. He was pure muscle packed into a purple t shirt and black jeans, holding a golden gladius in his left hand that was dripping with Agothane's blood. The little light that was entering the cave made sure the man looked like little more than a silhouette, making him look even more of an imposing figure.

The man stared down at him as he brought his right forearm to just under his chin. He then started to talk into a black bracelet that he was wearing.

"Mother?... Yes, he's dead… No, he's completely alone. Just some mortal foster parents around an hour away. No connection to any gods or the Divine world. At least none since I've been tailing him… No he just has some mortal clothes, no sign of any divine weapons on him. I know you said I would know if I saw it but that's not really helpful to me knowing what I'm looking for… Wait a second. He has a necklace. Looks like pure Olympian Silver." The man spoke into the bracelet, leaving enough time between sentences that Agothane could assume he was only hearing half of a conversation. After another moment of listening to his mother, the man bent down and reached out to grab Agothane's necklace. Bullies at one of the orphanages had tried that before so Agothane didn't even try to stop him. He knew what would happen next.

As he grabbed the necklace, it enveloped itself in flames. The man screamed in pain before his hand snapped back to his side. Agothane managed a smirk despite his impending death. That soon changed though when he felt a slight wind coming from deeper in the tunnel behind him, a change to the lifeless air around them only moments ago. The mans scream had alerted someone. He was too busy clutching his now burnt hand to notice the change but Agothane did. He turned around onto his side trying to get a better look but all it did was blur his vision.

However, the movement caught the mans attention as he turned towards where Agothane was trying to look. Agothane's vision was too blurry to know what happened next. He heard the man shout something into his bracelet in panic before Agothane blacked out, his ears filled with screams of pain and hissing.

Phoenix POV

I listened to Agothane's recount of what happened intently but I started to tune out once he mentioned what the man said about not being able to find any connections between Agothane and any gods. The way he was talking and describing how he was tailing the son of Iapetus led me to believe that these assassination missions were not known about by all the Olympians. I know it was a little bit of a jump to make but I was in a sticky situation as it was. I couldn't go to Apollo about this without possibly being the cause of a Civil War on Olympus. But I couldn't exactly just leave either as Bellona would no doubt find out if Agothane walked out of this cave alive, putting both him and myself in danger. I also couldn't just leave the son of Bellona chained up alive or just kill him to solve a part of my problem. I didn't actually have a problem with killing him as he had most likely murdered a lot of innocents but it would no doubt incur his Mothers wrath upon Agothane. I would most likely be fine as being favoured by Apollo would stop her trying anything but Agothane had no protection like that.

But just then, a plan started forming in my head. Turning to Agothane I asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" He said after a moment of hesitation, looking at me worriedly.

"I have an idea of how to get us both out of here without fearing the gods' wrath." I replied.

"What's the catch?" Agothane asked, no doubt picking up on my nervous energy.

"We need to confront Bellona first. Down here. Alone."