Percy Jackson: Shadows Rise

by SkyRunn3r

An ancient betrayal brought to light, plots amongst the Gods and a new prophecy could herald the end for the Era of the Gods, and Olympus as a whole. Annabeth and the remainder of the seven struggle to save their friends and family without Percy, he died in Tartarus. Or did he? How far will Percy go to save his family? Welcome to a darker PJO world, Enjoy!

20. Chapter 20: Clash Of The Titans Part II

Chapter Twenty: Clash of the Titans Part II

Comment Responses:

StarlightSaviour: I'm glad it was worth the wait haha. Hopefully this one is equally well worth the wait, Enjoy!

MeryFcuckery: Glad to see the story still has you captivated, and thanks for all the support! Enjoy the chapter!

Be Lekker: Well I guess you'll have to read and see to find out how Sally is haha. Enjoy the chapter!

Ariacrimsis: Always happy to write a good fight scene, Hopefully it doesn't overshadow the ones that are coming up. *nudge nudge wink wink* Enjoy the chapter.

HellraiderS: Thanks for the compliment! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Guest: Gods I loved reading this comment! It was so cool to see someone trying to put together what's going on with the plot. And I assure you some of your questions about Sally and Percy's heritage and powers may be answered in this chapter. But the big reveal comes during Clash of the Titans Part III (see if you can figure it out before then)

Nico 3 Days 14 Hours After Eripus

Their arrival on the outskirts of the Roman forward camp was uneventful, the gods having flashed Reyna, Nico, Rachel and Frank to a small clearing a hundred feet or so into the tree line and past the many patrols and the guard towers fields of view.

Reyna immediately set about checking her gear, securing all the straps quickly and ensuring the buckles were hidden underneath the Lorica Segmentum. Nico had seen the look on a person's face before they went to war, he knew what it looked like when you were preparing yourself to kill someone.

"So Praetor, what's the plan?" " Nico asked quickly, he was filled with a nervous sort of energy and he wanted to get moving. The faster they could solve the issue between the camps, the faster they could deal with Gaea. Then they could figure out what to do about Percy… he deserved a statue if not an entire monument in his name, and his soul would see the isles of blest. Nico would make sure of it.

"Well first things first, we go into camp. Then I want to know why the Legion moved without my orders, and then I'm going to gut Octavian like a fish when it's revealed he was the one who disobeyed my orders." Reyna all but growled out in response.

"Okay and what about the whole situation with Percy?" Frank asked. "You said Octavian convinced them to go to war to get him back, and well…" Frank paused for a minute as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "It's not like we can tell them he's coming back, so what do we do?"

Reyna looked around the clearing at each of them, holding their gaze with a fierce intensity. "Rome is my city, and a war with camp Half-Blood will destroy her just as quickly as Gaea will if we stand alone." Reyna said clearly.

"There are greater enemies rising to fight against us, and our greatest Hero is gone. I don't care for Octavian's power play, he will back down and follow my orders or I will kill him myself." Reyna finished, almost growling out the words between clenched teeth as she looked in the direction of the camp.

"Whatever you want to do, Reyna, I've got your back. This is your house, so let's go say hello" Rachel replied with a grin. "Maybe we can show Octavian what an actual oracle looks like"

Reyna flashed a weak smile in Rachel's direction before she turned to Nico and Frank. "There are a few things we will need to do. No doubt Octavian has secured the support of the first cohort, he's the Co-Centurion of the First, and Michael Kahale the other centurion does whatever Octavian wants." Renya said quietly.

"So if we just march in there, there's a good chance that the first will turn on us the same as Octavian?" Frank asked, his face having gone pale.

"Correct Zhang" Renya replied. "But we have allies of our own within the Legion." Reyna turned back to the group and grinned at them. "I chose you for a reason, each of you. We have a lot we need to get done and a short time to do it in"

Nico nodded as he looked at Renya, "Alright what's the plan then?"

Reyna took a deep breath, "Frank is going to go speak to Dakota, the fifth is his Cohort and they will give him a chance to speak at the very least." Then turning to look at Frank she continued. "You'll need to convince them to side with me against Octavian, which hopefully shouldn't be too hard. Dakota hates him for what he did to Gwendolyn, So he should be pretty easy to convince."

Then she turned to look at Nico "Perhaps yours is the most difficult Nico, but your skills should be more than up to the task."

"Well that's comforting" Nico grumbled as he looked at Reyna. "What exactly do you need me to do, Reyna?"

Reyna flashed him a quick grin before she turned back to the direction of the Roman Camp. "I need you to bring me the Legion Eagle. We need to get the whole Legion's attention and take Octavian's ability to win the crowd away from him for a few moments." Reyna replied.

"So once you get me the Legion's Eagle, you have a second task to complete. I need you to get Octavian away from camp, at least temporarily." Reyna said as she looked towards Nico hopefully.

Nico almost laughed out loud, "If that's all you need, no problem. I just need to know where the Legion Eagle is. Once that's done I'll throw Octavian so far into the shadow realm he pops out halfway to China if you want."

Reyna looked at him in surprise before she snorted and tried to cover her laugh.

Nico grinned right back "Octavian sounds like he needs to experience some culture anyway"

"Alright well now that the boys have their jobs, what kind of havoc do we get to wreak Reyna?" Rachel said with a wild grin on her face as she nervously fidgeted with the bronze dagger she had been given on Olympus.

"We get to walk right into the Lion's Den Rachel, we need to buy Frank and Nico time to get their jobs done. So you and I are going to have a conversation with Octavian himself. Once we speak with my Praetorians of course"

"Praetorians? As in…..?" Nico looked at Reyna questioningly while an open look of awe was present on Frank's face.

"I thought that was a joke! Like a bedtime story you tell to Probatio's…. 'Don't mess up or the Praetorians will find you'. You're telling me you actually have a Praetorian Guard!?" Frank almost squeaked out.

"The Praetorians are scrubbed from Legion records in order to properly fill out their duties, they are the spies and elite bodyguards of the Roman emperors. And lucky for us, their commanding officer is a friend of mine." Reyna said casually

Nico, Frank and Rachel looked at her in confusion.

"Gwendolyn, you don't think she chose to 'retire', do you Frank? She loved her position and the duties that came with it. But after Octavian almost killed her she personally requested a transfer from me. Then during the battle for New Rome, my last captain of the guard was killed. Gwendolyn took over for him."

"So we have the best of the best on our side?" Frank asked a note of hope entering his voice.

"That and their information network, give me fifteen minutes in camp and I'll know exactly who is going to cause a problem for us. Not to mention if Gwendolyn is any bit as efficient as I know her to be, she'll have the worst of the traitors in chains and at my feet before the hour is up" Reyna said as she flashed a quick grin.

Reyna then walked over and grabbed a stick from the ground, returning to the middle of the clearing as she began to scratch out a rough map in the dirt at their feet.

"The fortified camps are always set up in the same manner, four trenches that form a box, with the dirt piled up to form Ramparts behind that. Then there are four main roads through the camp, one runs in each cardinal direction." Reyna said as she continued to draw on the map.

"Each of the four corners of the camp possess a single tower, mounted with a ballistae. Not to mention the patrols and the palisade spiked walls." Reyna spoke out, pointing to each detail on the map as she did so.

Reyna continued to sketch out the map for a few more minutes, pointing out where key locations such as the Cohort barracks, and the weapons supply tents, not to mention she brought up roughly how often patrols were sent out, and the routes they would follow.

Even going so far as to tell them the password used by the Praetorians, which would get them past any nosy guards.

However, now Nico and the rest of them stood at the edge of the forest, looking out onto the Roman camp. The gravity of the situation set in, they were about to walk into a camp of possibly hostile demigods, and demand that they surrender their war effort.

They had one shot at this and Nico knew it wasn't going to be pretty no matter how well they did their jobs. He had no doubt in his mind that Demigod blood was going to be spilled before the night was over. He just wasn't sure if it was going to be Roman or Greek.

Annabeth 3 Days 14 Hours After Eripus

Faster.

She had to move Faster!

Annabeth sprinted through the apartment building, those thoughts racing through her mind as the building shuddered around her. The lights were flickering like mad, and Annabeth had to fight to get past the rush of people fleeing the apartment building screaming like banshees as it collapsed around them.

The hallways were filled with dust, and Annabeth had only visited a few times before, and never alone. So finding Sally and Percy's apartment was becoming more difficult. However she had decided the best course of action was to simply follow the crashing and screaming sounds as the building shook and trembled under the destructive assault the Minotaur was putting down.

"ANNABETH! SLOW DOWN!" She heard Jason call out from behind her as she finally broke past the crowd of residents and rushed towards the staircase at the end of the hallway. She could hear the crashes above her somewhere, so Annabeth knew she was going up.

She slammed into the door shoulder first, almost blowing it off its hinges, her quick reactions saved her from tumbling down the stairs as she grabbed the railing. Then once she was stable, Annabeth began to sprint, taking the stairs two or three at a time as her lungs ached in her chest, and her eyes stung from all the dust in the air.

However, within a minute she was stumbling out of the stairwell on the ninth floor, barely noticing the damage around her as she finally spotted something she recognized amidst all the chaos. A simple window that looked out over the Queensborough bridge, complete with a well worn, wide window sill.

Annabeth remembered sitting in the sun, leaning against Percy's chest while they sat in the window and looked out over the bridge. That had been just minutes before she had met Sally for the first time. She had been so nervous that Percy had pulled her aside and they had talked until Annabeth had calmed down.

Another crash rang out in the air, and snapped her from her walk down memory lane.

However that single crash echoed out again and again, growing steadily louder, Annabeth could feel her ears pressurizing, as if she had just dove into the deep end of a pool. The air was so charged with energy all the hairs on her arms were standing up.

Then the Minotaur made his appearance.

Or rather, he flew through the air just slow enough for Annabeth to catch a glimpse of him.

He was wearing some kind of armor, his axe was nowhere to be found and he looked bruised and battered. One of his horns had been cleanly snapped off and blood was running from several gashes on his arms and face.

Not that he was capable of doing much at the moment, he flew backwards through two walls before slamming into the wall beside Annabeth and soaring clear out the building, filling the hallway with a blast of dust

"What the fuck was that!?" Jason asked, panting as he did so. "I thought it was chasing Sally!?"

Annabeth didn't have an answer for the tired demigod, she was equally confused as to who had launched the Minotaur through a building like a speeding bullet and above all how? That meathead was one of the stronger monsters in the Greek world. Very few Heroes had ever managed to take it out, Percy and Theseus made up that list as far as Annabeth was aware.

A few seconds after the Minotaur flew through the wall there was a second explosion as the bulky monster slammed into the concrete nine stories below them, shattering it with the impact and letting loose a single below of pain before it went silent.

"Uhhhhhh…. Annabeth, what the fuck just hit him?" Piper asked as she leaned out the hole in the wall and looked at the smoking crater that the Minotaur laid in. copious amounts of black smoke billowed from the crater in the sidewalk and already sirens could be heard in the distance as dozens of mortals from all over ran to look at the carnage.

"I… I don't know… but it doesn't matter! We need to get Sally out of here before this whole building collapses on our heads!" Annabeth shouted loudly as she started walking towards Percy's apartment quickly.

Each step she took was filled with trepidation, images of Sally dead flashed through her brain as she slowly picked up the speed she was walking at. She wasn't going to lose Sally as well, she thought as she grit her teeth and drew her bronze dagger.

The entire upper floor was a ruin, with more than half the walls broken or damaged in some way, people's belongings were scattered about, mixed with rubble and other debris. However Annabeth couldn't help but notice the large quantities of blood that were splashed across the walls and ceiling.

The closer she got to Percy's apartment the worse the destruction became, until finally she stood at the end of a hallway, looking towards a door. Apartment 915, Percy and Sally's apartment.

There was almost nothing left of the walls, funny enough the door and door frame were still in place, and if it hadn't been for the seriousness of the situation Annabeth might have laughed. However she had some suspicions that there was more at play here than just a Minotaur, because given the state of this floor alone, the entire building should be minutes from collapse, but save for the occasional rumble there wasn't anything happening.

"That's it?... Annabeth I don't even know how she would be alive if she was in there …" Piper said in shock as they stared at the absolute wreckage that was Percy's apartment.

"You haven't met Sally, if anyone could survive this it's her." Annabeth replied with only a slight quiver in her voice. Walking forwards she stepped past the door, into what remained of the living room. The once clean and tidy apartment was covered with debris and shattered glass from the windows which strangely enough seemed to have been blown inwards.

"Fucking hell…" Jason said quietly as he looked around, in shock. There was golden dust everywhere, like someone had thrown a glitter party and decided to use monster remains as the key ingredient. Annabeth quietly sheathed her dagger as she looked around the room in shock, trying her best not to scream in frustration.

Annabeth was just as shocked, sure monsters had gone after Sally before. But only when she had been with Percy, she did possess the sight, but that alone shouldn't have been enough to draw this kind of attention.

"So what do we do? She could be anywhere and we still need to figure out what the hell was fighting the Minotaur before we end up fighting it ourselves." Jason said confidently as he drew his gladius. "We have enough problems to deal with right now. If whoever did this is hostile and gods forbid still here we need to send them back to Tartarus or wherever they came from." Jason declared.

"Jason, we have no idea who did this, let's not jump to conclusions too quickly," Piper said hesitantly as she looked around the apartment sadly.

"So you're telling me that whoever did this is on our side? Fuck piper we came here to talk to Sally and for Annabeth to make sure she was safe. She's missing and the apartment is destroyed and covered in monster dust. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that someone is after her, and if they are working with the Minotaur and monsters then they clearly aren't friends of Olympus." Jason finished in an irritated tone of voice.

"And if they aren't working with the Minotaur?" Piper asked in an annoyed tone as she rounded on Jason. Spurring another argument from the couple, they really didn't seem to understand the concept of 'wrong time and wrong place' Annabeth thought to herself, shaking her head.

"If they're not allied with the Minotaur and they killed all these monsters the only reason they would be here is to get to Sally which makes it even worse!" Jason replied quickly.

"Why is it impossible for you to think that this could have been someone on our side?" Piper demanded, her eyes burning holes into Jason's face as she glared at him.

"Because, one of us has to be realistic, the dead don't come back to life, and this wasn't done by a demigod…" Jason muttered darkly as he walked towards the ruined kitchen. Inspecting the blood soaked walls with feigned interest.

Annabeth was almost ignoring the two of them as she continued to look around the Apartment, she saw a picture frame on the ground, cracked and shattered yet the picture within was still in one piece thankfully.

It was a picture that Sally had taken of Percy and Annabeth, sitting in the park. Percy laid out on his back a goofy grin on his face while he was pointing at something in the sky. Not that Annabeth had been looking at the sky, her eyes were locked onto Percy's face and the look of adoration she wore nearly drove her to her knees in pain.

Gods, she missed him, he had been missing for months, only for her to find him at the Roman Camp of all places. She had only just gotten him back, so of course the fates had decided that he hadn't sacrificed enough yet, and had called on him again. Ripping her boyfriend, the love of her life away from her. The only difference was that this time she knew exactly where he was, and he was still out of her reach.

The ache in her chest almost made her gasp out in pain as she bit her lip and rubbed at her eyes to push away the tears which were already leaking down her cheeks. She wasn't going to break, not here, Sally needed her and Percy would never forgive her if she let his mother die.

She gently bent down and pulled the picture free of the frame, tucking it into her pocket. However it was when she knelt down that she noticed something strange. What looked to clearly be a footprint, outlined in the carpet. It was human sized, and surrounded by scorch marks.

What was stranger is that they were clearly made after the room had been damaged, as a book had a similar footprint on it, as did several pieces of rubble. Forming a nearly invisible trail that led deeper into the apartment.

Annabeth heard the bellow of rage that came from outside, notifying her that the Minotaur was awake again, more importantly the shuddering the building went under even momentarily was enough to tell her that he was back inside, and from the sounds of it rapidly making his way back to the ninth floor.

"Well Jason, maybe you will get the chance to fight something." Annabeth said quietly as she inspected the footprint and followed the path with her eyes. Watching as the footprints left the room and headed towards the hallway and the apartments bedrooms.

Both Jason and Piper looked at each other hesitantly before they looked back at Annabeth and nodded. "I got it," Jason said with confidence, waving off Piper as he drew his sword and walked out of the ruined apartment. "How much time do you need?" Jason asked as he looked back at Annabeth.

"As much as you can get me…" Annabeth replied quickly, far too busy examining the room to bother with looking at Jason as she spoke. She barely registered the fact that he had walked out of the room until she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. Looking up to see Piper staring at her with a confused look on her face.

"What are you looking for?" Piper asked hesitantly, "I want her to be alive as well but look around, this place is a wreck. How would she let alone her daughter survive this mess?"

Annabeth wasn't entirely sure herself, Sally was a mortal and even true sighted as she was that shouldn't have let her fight off the Minotaur and whatever else had come with him.

But she couldn't get rid of the feeling that she wasn't seeing the whole picture, why had the Minotaur come here of all places? And what were these footprints that had been made after the damage had been done to the room. It clearly wasn't the work of the Minotaur, so that meant either there was another attacker who had returned here after, or someone had come back to the apartment for another reason.

Annabeth reached out and touched her fingers against the mark, feeling the warmth of the singed surface under her foot as her eyes widened in shock. Whoever made these was probably still in the apartment.

Immediately Annabeth turned and looked at Piper, clamping her free hand over the girl's mouth and pointing to the foot print. Then down the hallway, before she drew her dagger in her right hand and slowly released her grip on Piper's mouth.

She looked scared Annabeth noticed, watching as Piper drew Katopris and looked about them cautiously, but she had clearly understood the message. Annabeth could tell from the tense body posture she had, and the fierce look in her eyes.

Without a word Annabeth began to creep down the hallway towards the two bedrooms and the bathroom. Carefully avoiding the broken glass and pieces of drywall littering the floor. The footsteps continued directly to the end of the hall, Which Annabeth knew was Percy's room.

As they crept down the hall, Annabeth began to feel a strange pressure in the air, almost like that of a God, not quite, but it was so similar it sent chills up and down her spine. But she didn't know any God besides Poseidon who would come to see Sally Jackson. And he was far too distraught over Percy's apparent death to make his way here. Not to mention he would have simply brought them with him if that had been his plan.

No this was someone, or something else.

Annabeth turned to look at Piper, gesturing to the door at the end of the hall as she moved to stand on the left side allowing Piper to take the right. Annabeth wasn't sure what was behind that door, but she was going to make sure they regretted attacking Percy's family. It wouldn't even begin to make up the debt she owed him, but it was a start.

She held up her fingers, counting down as she mounted the words to Piper.

3… 2… 1…

Annabeth turned and kicked the door open with a bang, a slight grin of satisfaction on her face as the door gave way easily allowing her and Piper to charge into the room. Unfortunately for them they were greeted by a sword whistling through the air with incredible speed.

Almost the instant she stepped through the door Annabeth felt her dagger go flying out of her hand, having been struck with blinding speed by a sword, almost in the same instant that Katopris spun end over end in the air before embedding itself in the ceiling.

A figure dressed in blue whirled to one side, her foot lashing out in a kick as it slammed into Piper's chest and drove her backwards back through the doorway. Followed immediately by the sword swinging to a stop inches from Annabeth's jugular, the blade not wavering an inch as her attacker slowly turned to look at her.

Annabeth's gaze traveled over the woman, who was wearing a loose fitting blue dress, which had been torn down the sides to reveal a thigh holster for a dagger. Which was in addition to the strange jagged blade she held now. A silver color and covered with strange runes and markings, the blade was plain looking beyond those runes, and lacked a cross guard instead having a much longer, more narrow blade.

Her hair was a dark brown, almost black and hung down her back in loose curls and her eyes shone a brilliant blue, eyes which widened in recognition seconds after Annabeth's dagger had been sent flying out of her hands.

Annabeth was just as shocked however, in front of her stood Sally Jackson.

Except Sally Jackson had a sword, and was covered in monster dust and blood. Not to mention she had disarmed and disabled Piper and Annabeth in around two seconds flat.

"A-Annabeth?" Sally stuttered out in confusion. "What are you doing here?!" She said as her voice took on a mild note of panic, however Annabeth couldn't help but notice that the sword didn't move an inch.

"... we were looking for you Sally….. What.. what happened?" Annabeth asked haltingly, her eyes not leaving Sally's face, but she couldn't help but be nervous of the sword pressed up against her throat. Since when had Percy's mum been skilled with a blade, let alone skilled enough to disarm her and Piper with almost zero effort.

However, Sally didn't seem convinced as her eyes darted around the room frantically, as she slowly backed away from Annabeth. "Tell me something only Annabeth would know, or you won't live more than a few seconds before I send you back to meet him." Sally said in a dark voice as she stepped backwards to stand protectively in front of a small bundle on the bed.

"Uhh… the blue food!" Annabeth almost shouted, "Percy told me at camp that the blue food was something you came up with! That you had an argument with Gabe about food being blue and that from then onwards you went out of your way to make it for Percy! It's why it's his favorite color" Annabeth blurted out as she heard Piper stumble back into the room.

"Stay put daughter of Aphrodite, I don't know why the two of you are here, and until I do I can't let you come any closer." Sally said as her eyes softened slightly. "Don't misunderstand Annabeth i'm glad to see you, but unfortunately the timing could have been better" she finished with a sigh

"If he didn't send you, then why are you here?" Sally said as her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Percy didn't send us Sally….. It's why we came actually." Piper said cautiously as she looked between Annabeth and Percy's mum. However Sally seemed confused for a moment, clearly she hadn't been referring to Percy.

Sally looked between the two of them for a moment, then ever so slowly the pressure in the room began to grow more and more intense as Sally's eyes hardened. "What do you…. Oh Gods, where is he?"

"H-... Percy's in Tartarus…" Annabeth all but whispered as she looked at the ground. Tears burned in the corners of her eyes as she struggled not to break down and sob in front of Sally. She didn't have any right to do that, not when Sally's son was in Tartarus because of her.

Sally's eyes widened for a moment as she looked between the two of them.

"He fell in to save me… we had to rescue the Parthenos for my mother, and I fell. He jumped in after me, and brought me all the way to the doors so I could escape…." Annabeth said as her voice felt thick and the pain of talking about this was almost unbearable.

"Something happened…. And I don't remember anything after that, only bits and pieces. But Percy did something, apparently I-i… ummm, I died….. So he made a deal with Nyx to bring me back." Annabeth said quietly as she watched Sally, waiting for the moment that her face morphed into one of rage and she blamed Annabeth.

Annabeth was expecting Sally to cry, or scream. To be angry with her, instead Sally's eyes filled with such pity and compassion that Annabeth wanted to scream at her a furious Sally Would have been better than this, anything would be better than her pity and sympathy. Annabeth didn't deserve this kindness, not from her. Annabeth wasn't ready for it, but the look in Sally's eyes as she walked up to Annabeth and ever so gently laid a hand on her cheek, was anything but motherly and loving .

"You poor thing…." Sally said softly as she pulled Annabeth into a crushing hug and held her close.

Ever so slowly Annabeth's iron walls, the ones that she had built around her emotions crumbled, and within seconds she was sobbing into Sally's shoulder, begging for forgiveness between sobs.

"I-i'm s-so sorry!... It's m-my fault!... He f-fell trying to s-save me!" she sobbed out as she clutched at Sally's dress, barely keeping herself standing as her whole body shook with each sob that escaped her lips.

"No." Sally declared with finality as she looked at Annabeth. "I highly doubt this was your doing Annabeth…." Sally stood up and looked at the apartment around her sadly, which is when Annabeth noticed a few strange things, one was that there were runes that seemed to be glowing through the floor in Percy's room. Right under the bed, and specifically where the small bundle sat.

Annabeth's brain felt like it was melting inside her skull, none of this made any sense. Not only was Sally a warrior but some sort of magician as well? How? When? Annabeth thought frantically.

"Sally… what's going on?" Annabeth asked in a pitiful voice as she pulled away from the woman. "Why is the Minotaur after you? Who did all this?" Annabeth all but begged as she looked at Sally, her eyes pleading for any answer that would help the demigod make sense of this insanity.

However Sally seemed to be in another world as she turned around and walked towards Percy's closet, as she neared the doors she paused turning to look back at the two young demigods. "We don't have much time, perhaps this is fate…. But regardless I didn't have a choice, I had to use it to protect Estelle… and he would have felt it, so it's only a matter of time…"

Sally then whispered some word in a strange language, so quietly that Annabeth couldn't make out exactly what it was she said. However the surge of energy that accompanied that word might as well have been a bomb going off. The pressure in the air surged for a moment as the air around the closet rippled with energy for a moment, distorting the image strangely, when it dissipated the doors were simply gone, and the closet looked significantly different.

Most notable were the dozens of weapons hanging on hooks on the walls, in addition to a large chest which sat at the back of the closet. Swords, Axes, Spears and several other weapons of more foreign design waited to be used,

A strange robe, with silver accents and armor plates occupied a mannequin in the corner and on the other side was a low bench. Which held two objects, the first of which was a sword. But it was unlike any design she had ever seen before. It was an elegant design nearly five feet long, with a large cross guard and hilt and a wide blood channel. It was made of some strange silver metal, which glittered and shone even through the thin layer of dust on it. The edges of the blade were lined with runes that glowed with power even as it laid there.

Beside that was a small black leather-bound book. It looked to be the size of a small travel bible. But it was old and weathered, the leather worn and cracked in places. But it oozed magic, Annabeth could feel the crackle in the air, reminiscent of her time on Circe's island.

The weapon looked lethal even sitting on a bench, and Annabeth couldn't imagine what it would look like in the hands of a swordsman, or woman in Sally's case.

That's when it clicked.

A strong warrior, and one clearly versed in the use of magic…..

Annabeth backed away from Sally in shock, watching as Sally slowly turned around to look at her. "Is there a problem Annabeth?" Sally said sweetly as she turned to look at her.

Annabeth was too shocked to answer, and she wasn't sure if it was luck or not when Piper spoke up in her place. "You…. you're Ardwyrian…..". Sally didn't respond, simply turning around and grabbing several things from the closet. Throwing them into a small rucksack which she tied with efficiency. Using several leather lash straps to tie the scabbard for the large sword to it.

Once she was done she turned around and let out a short breath through her nose. "So, if you know what that means I take it the Gods know about me as well?" Sally closed her eyes for a moment. "I don't want to hurt either of you, so I'll give you the chance to leave now, but if the Gods filled your head with the idea that you would be a match for me, then you are sorely mistaken" her eyes snapped open as a light blue aura surged to life around her, the air crackling with energy as she locked gazes with both demigods.

Annabeth felt like she was frozen to the spot, the pressure Sally was putting off was genuinely terrifying but almost an instant after it began it vanished just as suddenly. Leaving Annabeth gasping for breath.

"W-we aren't here o-on any orders from the Gods…. I-i came to tell you about p-Percy and to make sure you were s-safe." Annabeth wheezed as she struggled to get air into her lungs.

Sally seemed slightly confused by this, pacing the room for a minute as she muttered to herself quietly. But not quietly for Annabeth to miss it. "What is he thinking….. Why now? After all these years…." Sally all but hissed to herself quietly as she paced back and forth.

That was when a series of loud bangs were followed up by a deep rumble from the clouds outside. Then a massive blinding flash filled her vision as a bolt of lighting roared down and slammed into the side of the building a few floors below them.

Causing the whole place to rattle and shake as the lights flickered and went out.

"Hades! Jason is gonna drop the whole building on us if he's not careful!" Piper cried out as she stumbled into one of the walls.

"Your friend seems pretty inten-" Sally froze mid speech as she cocked her head to one side, almost as if listening for something. Then her eyes went wide as a look of terror crossed her features. "...no…" she ran to one of the windows and looked down onto the street below before almost hurling herself away from the window, as if burned by something as she rushed over to the bundle on the bed.

She threw her hands out wide and the strange blue aura flickered into life around her again as reality seemed to warp around her for a second. "PROXIM THARIDUN" Sally shouted out in a harsh language, the sound grating on Annabeth's ears as a blast of blue light roared out from around Sally and passed right through the two demigods.

"That will buy us a minute, maybe less" she said frantically as she dropped to her knees in front of the bed where the small bundle lay, squirming slightly as Annabeth saw the child open her eyes. Revealing a blinding shade of blue, spotted with streaks of brown.

Annabeth watched in awe as Sally placed both her hands on the circle of glowing runes in the floor and a strange orange light flickered to life around the bed. The small bundle began to let out an ear piercing wail as Sally continued to speak in that harsh grating language.

"STOP IT, CAN'T YOU SEE YOU'RE HURTING HER!?" Piper cried her voice heavily laden with charm speak as she ran forwards, only for Sally to flick her wrist in Piper's direction, sending the demigod flying across the room to slam into the wall with a thud, Piper then promptly flopped to the floor out cold.

"I don't have time for this…." Sally growled out in concentration as the light around her flared up even brighter and the child's cries intensified. The wailing and blinding lights continued to assault her senses as she struggled to stay focused.

Then suddenly the light flared down as Sally exploded into movement, surging to her feet and grabbing the bundle off the bed as she turned around, and Annabeth saw the tears rushing down her face as she crooned over the child. Looking at the baby with such adoration that Annabeth knew there was no way Sally would have hurt that child if she hadn't needed to.

But that begged the question, what had forced Sally to do that to her own child.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Annabeth, and I know what you must think of me…." she said as she waved her hand in Piper's direction, a strange sensation like a wave of cold water passed over Annabeth and Piper surged back to consciousness with a cough.

Her wild eyes darted around the room as Annabeth dropped to one knee and placed a hand on Piper's shoulder. "Relax… it's pretty clear if she wanted to kill us she would have. So maybe it's time we get some answers." Annabeth said as calmly as possible why looking right into Piper's eyes.

"What's going on Sally? The Gods told us about the Ardywr, what they did was wrong, And I really want to trust you, but you need to trust me here. What is happening!?" Annabeth said, her voice rising almost to a shout of anger at the end.

Sally for her part looked apologetic. "I wish I could explain this to you Annabeth, but we don't have any time. At least not enough for me to explain what's going on…. But there is a way for you to get the answers you want. I'll give you what you need, you're a daughter of wisdom. You can follow the path, I know you can." Sally said as a small glimmer of hope shone in her eyes.

"Bullshit, how can we trust you? According to Zeus and the others your kind are just as dangerous if not more so than Titans. Between Gaea and the Tartarii the Gods are going mad, so give us a reason not to tell them about you." Piper all but demanded.

"It would take too long for me to explain and as I said we have minutes at best" Sally said almost sadly as she looked off into the distance for a moment, then refocused herself. Grabbing a small amulet from the mannequin as well as the book, wrapping the amulet about it before passing both to Annabeth. It was a small gold disc, about the size of a coffee cup lid. It was covered with similar inscriptions to her sword, small runes that ran around the edge of the disc.

"But if you find out on your own maybe you can put an end to the hell he wants to unleash on the realms… I tried to stop him and from the sounds of it I've failed… and now he knows where I am…. And where Estelle is…" Sally said as she looked at the child in her arms. "Not to mention the Tartarii rising right as Percy ended up in Tartarus… he spent thousands of years planning this… he wouldn't have left anything up to chance and I was a fool to think I could hide Percy from him." She said her voice was heavy with the weight of guilt.

"Who are you trying to hide from Sally, who were you hiding Percy from? Maybe we can keep you and Estelle safe, you just need to talk to us." Annabeth said, glancing at Piper for support, who looked concerned for a moment before she slowly nodded her head.

"Listen Sally, I don't know you, but if Annabeth is willing to trust you, so am I. What can we do?" Piper said as she glanced around the room. "We've taken down giants and worse, I'm sure we can keep you safe until we can get you back to camp".

A loud bellow of pain was heard from down below followed by several crashes as the building shuddered. The sound of something flying out into the street could be clearly heard over the sound of everything else. Annabeth dashed to the window, just in time to see the Minotaur begin to crumble away to dust, having flown across the street and slammed into the building on the opposite side. Its entire body steaming, arcs of electricity still flying off him as he fell to the ground with barely a noise, already having crumbled into dust.

"Looks like Jason did his thing, the Minotaur is down for the count. Let's go Sally, you can tell me all about what the hell is going on once we get you and your daughter out of here" Annabeth said loudly as she turned back towards Sally.

"There isn't anything you can do to stop him, he's already here. But you can save her…. You can save my daughter. He can't have her, I won't let him take another child from me." Sally said fiercely as the aura of blue light surged to life around her once more. Sally tenderly leaned down and brushed the blanket away from her child's face and laid a gentle kiss on her brow.

Annabeth looked down and saw a strange black mark that looked like it had been carved over the child's Left eye and cheek, a series of black swirling runes that seemed to have been burned into the skin. A tear splashed onto the child's face, followed by another as Annabeth looked up to see Sally silently sobbing as she held one hand over her mouth and the other clutched her child to her chest.

"I ran so far to get Percy away from him….. And I failed…. I can't fail Estelle as well. So this was the only thing I could do for her, Ive masked her power, it will hide her from him if you can get her far enough away. No one but you two will know what she truly is… but what happens to her now is for you to decide." Sally said as she ever so slowly deposited the child into Annabeth's arms. A tortured look of pain crossing her face as she did so.

"What ar-" Annabeth started to talk, but was completely silenced when she felt more power than she had thought was possible. Whatever creature or being this aura belonged to was far beyond anything she had ever thought possible, no God even came close to it. "Sally….. What in the name of Hades was that…" Annabeth asked quietly.

Sally went to speak but before she could Annabeth felt the building shudder slightly. Then several blasts rang out in the air from below them, followed by a singular scream of pain, once which both Annabeth and Piper recognized. Jason.

Then all at once the rumbling stopped, and for a moment everything was quiet again.

Sally looked at both of them worriedly and motioned for them to be quiet, "Dinhara Norath" Sally whispered as another cold gust of air blew past Annabeth and Piper, Annabeth felt like someone had sprinkled flakes of ice on her skin as she shivered.

Sally on the other hand looked terrified as she snapped her fingers and suddenly a flash of white light replaced her torn dress with the black and silver robes from the closet. "Remember what I told you, I can only hope as her mother that you'll do what is best for her" Sally said in a stern voice, leaving almost no room for argument. "And when the time comes you need to do exactly what I say."

Sally then stood in the center of the room, blocking the entrance from the hall with her body as she waited. She didn't have to wait long, for within a minute Annabeth heard the door to the apartment swing open, followed by the sound of heavy footfalls crushing glass and drywall underfoot.

Moments later a giant of a man strode into the apartment, he must have stood at least six foot four. He was wearing an elegant steel gray three piece suit, his hair was black, with a slight graying at his temples, and was closely cropped to his head. His eyes were a piercing blue, but they were hard and cruel looking. The rest of his features were coarse, as if he had been carved from granite, and the scars that covered his face and neck no doubt continued underneath his shirt.

He held himself with the bearing of a warrior, yet he carried no weapons, and in fact wore no jewlery save for silver band on his left ring finger. However he exuded an aura of malice and hatred so palpable Annabeth actually felt her knees shudder slightly.

Sally locked eyes with the man as he smiled in her direction and casually tossed the limp and bloody body of Jason into the room at Sally's feet. The demigod groaned slightly as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

Sally responded by stepping over Jason in the blink of an eye and slashing at the man, her sword a blur as it whipped through the air. Annabeth however was amazed as the man simply seemed to lean to the side slightly. Sally's sword whistled through the air inches from his face as his tie was slashed in two, right under the knot, and a small trickle of red blood, dotted with silver dripped free of the tiny cut on his chest.

Almost in the same motion Sally twirled backwards away from the man, her foot gently but firmly sliding Jason's limp body across the floor closer to Piper and Annabeth.

"Tsk, tsk" The man said in a strange foreign accent. "Is that really how you want to say hello to me after all these years, Sallira? How long has it been? Eighteen years?" The man waved his hand over the tie and damage to his suit, and a surge of power washed over the room. In an instant it was as if Sally had never hit him at all.

"I assume the demigod is known to you? The only reason that Spawn of Zeus lives is because I suspected that you wouldn't take kindly to me ending his life." The man drawled out casually as he stood completely at ease. Yet his eyes told a different story, they were so filled with anger and hate that a simple look from him made Annabeth shudder with revulsion. "But it still pains me to see you choose them over your family…"

"Of course, how polite of you….. As always, Father." Sally replied with a grim look.

Athena 4 Days & 39 minutes After Eripus

The open field between the two camps was a mess, craters and rubble covered what had once been an open green field, full of strawberry bushes and other plant life. Forest's had surrounded the field, combined with the view of the lake this place had been as close to a perfect natural paradise as one could get.

Not anymore.

Instead the churned earth was covered in blood, ichor and golden dust. Dozens of monsters lay dying or slowly crumbling into golden dust, their weapons laying broken and scattered across the field. Shattered trees and other debris tossed about by the high winds laid across the ground, or flying through the air. They were almost more dangerous to the monsters than the storm itself, crushing the fleeing monsters into a bloody pulp almost as if mocking the condition of the army which had been marching across the field mere minutes before.

The cause of all this damage? Well that would be the massive Hurricane that had touched down between the camps, and had not moved an inch since it had set down.

The hurricane and accompanying storm seemed to have come from nowhere, destroying the forest and fields between both camps, as twisters, rain, hail and nearly constant strikes of lightning blasted the landscape.

It was like some otherworldly scene, the haze of smoke from the explosions mingling with the rain to create a nearly impenetrable wall that obscured the vision of everyone in the Throne Room.

"By Chaos, what the hell was that!?" Apollo shouted out as he stood up from the floor, where he had been kneeling as he poured healing magic into Lupa, who had arrived minutes before. Wounded and disorientated, claiming that Camp Half-Blood and the Romans were in incredible danger.

The first generation Olympians were staring at the rainbow message displayed clearly in the middle of the Throne Room with looks of open shock and horror clearly displayed on their faces.

"Hades….?" Zeus said quietly as he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the utter destruction that had been rained down on the field.

"I…. I dont know brother, he looks the same, but that is definitely not what I fought in Tartarus….. It doesn't even seem like the same person." Hades replied, his voice clearly conveying how shocked he was.

The subject of their mortified looks was the single warrior clad in black Greek styled armor, although Athena had to note, while at first glance it did resemble Greek armor, she had to note that there were subtle differences. The addition of the strange scaled plates that covered his arm and thigh were unique to say the least. As was the overall fit of the armor, seeming far more like a second skin than any kind of armor she had ever seen.

However, the armor was the least of her worries. Athena had originally assumed that Zeus and Hades may have overreacted at their fear of a Mortal Champion of the Tartarii. After all, mortal is the key word. Any god should be able to crush a mortal with their presence alone, not to mention their Godlike powers and superior physical abilities. She had initially doubted that any Mortal could pose a threat to them.

However those doubts were quickly dispelled, after having watched whoever or whatever it was, leap some fifty feet into the air, and slap Lelantos to the ground like an insignificant bug with a single blow, which also happened to take his arm clean off. The resulting impact shattered the surface for several dozen feet in every direction. However as the figure was falling back to the ground an enraged Koios swung his sword at him, nearly cutting him in half, sending him flying into the side of a soft rolling hill. He hit it so hard he basically demolished the entire thing, sending dirt and rocks flying in every direction.

"Well, that's that….." Ares said with a sigh…. "Just as it was getting interesting too." The God of war turned to Zeus, "Send me down father, with just a small portion of the Olympian army. I will show them what a true warrior looks like!" Ares said loudly as he hefted his sword from where it leaned against his throne. Resting the gargantuan blade on his shoulder as he stood up.

"See hades!" Zeus boomed, a large smile on his face as he gestured towards the Iris message. "Perhaps you were mistaken, brother. It looks like Koios has done our job for us." the king of the gods finished.

Then the ground around the crater exploded, chunks of stone and earth flying into the air as the figure walked out of the destruction rolling his shoulders before he screamed out in some strange language.

The Titans Koios and Krios looked in his direction almost instantly.

"... how is this even possible? You told us he was mortal Hades …" Athena all but whispered in awe as the being attacked Koios, overwhelming the Titan of foresight with near blinding speed. There had to be some sort of trick, or secret. No mortal could possibly move that quickly or that fast Athena thought to herself.

"He was basically cut in half!" Apollo called out nervously. "No mortal could have survived that, it's not possible!"

"Well would you care to explain what we are looking at then, Apollo?" The angry voice of Artemis echoed across the chamber. "Otherwise maybe you can keep quiet and focus all the energy on saving Lupa, at least she's useful." The goddess all but shouted as she glared at her brother.

Athena had known her younger sister her entire life, so she knew what a scared Artemis looked and sounded like, and while few could tell the difference. Athena knew that Artemis was worried, and Athena didn't need her superior intellect to know why.

Her hunters were less than a Kilometer from the action.

"He didn't bleed Ichor, so yes Athena. He is indeed mortal, not that it really matters…" Hades said as he watched the Iris message that was displayed in the middle of the Throne Room clearly for all to see.

"How can that not matter! He's wielding more power than most of the Gods !" Athena cried out in frustration, not understanding why the first generation Olympians were so dejected.

Then she got a glimpse of what fighting an Ardwyrrian really meant.

Dozens of tendrils of water appeared in the air, manifesting with razor sharp spear-like points of ice at the end. Before they surged down towards Koios, impaling the Titan of foresight several dozen times as he seemed unable to move or escape the onslaught.

All the while several other tendrils fended off Krios and Lelantos as they struggled to get to their brother who was being summarily stabbed to death by the small black armored figure, and a swarm of deadly ice spears.

"Should we even do anything?" Hermes asked from his throne as he leaned forwards. "It's not like any of us have any attachment to those Titans, and as long as it doesn't move on the camps then it's doing us a favor as far as I'm concerned." Hermes finished as he looked at the fight with interest.

"What can we do but sit here Hermes!?" Zeus all but roared at his son. "The Ancient Laws forbid us from interfering in mortal affairs! This isn't an attack on Olympus or one of us, they are attacking our children and according to our own laws. We cannot do anything to stop them!" Zeus cried out as he slammed his fist off the armrest on his throne.

"One of us can," Came the voice of Artemis.

"NO!" came the reply from several of the first generation Olympians all at once. Namely Zeus, Demeter and Poseidon.

"WHY NOT! MY HUNTERS ARE DOWN THERE!" Artemis screamed as she leapt from her throne drawing her bow as she did so. "If this really is an Ardwyrian then my hunters are going to be killed because of your mistake father! I won't let that happen!" Artemis said as she turned to walk towards the doors.

However, the doors were currently blocked by a small female figure, wreathed in flames.

"I don't think you understand the danger involved with what you are suggesting, Artemis." Hestia said as calmly as she could, she seemed to be avoiding looking at the Iris message. But Athena had caught the expression on Hestia's face as she had entered the throne room.

There was no way not to see the giant projection in the middle of the room, and Hestia had looked right at it when she had entered the throne room. Her face had been twisted, somewhere between agony and anger as she had erupted into flames and closed the door behind her.

"Get out of my way Hestia, I'm not going to sit here and let my hunters pay for my fathers crimes!" Artemis said as she went to walk past Hestia.

Needless to say Athena was surprised when Artemis came flying back into the throne room, unharmed, but clearly confused as to why she had failed to move past Hestia. "I don't wish to fight you Artemis, in fact I won't, but I suspect that isn't just any Ardwyrian. And I won't let you be the sacrificial sheep your father uses to discover that." Hestia said as the flames around her simmered out.

"What do you mean?" Athena called out quickly, hoping to get an answer for the unexplained power the Ardywrian was displaying and to stop any argument from Artemis who was practically Gold with Rage.

"The strongest Ardwyrian's were all members of the Artorian Royal family. All Ardwyrian's were capable of controlling the Aetherium to a certain extent. But the Royal Family, they were a different story." Hestia said as she turned back towards the iris message.

Silence reigned in the throne room for a moment before she spoke again, her voice filled with so much anger and hate that Athena was actually shocked that it was Hestia speaking. "Does it remind you of anything Zeus?" She asked, her eyes literal burning orbs as she glared at her brother, gesturing towards the scene in the Iris message.

Zeus looked at her nervously as he decided not to reply. Which Athena had to note, may not have been the smartest move when faced with an enraged goddess.

"Truly, are you so arrogant that you refuse to see the similarity between what's happening here and what happened in Anatolia?" Hestia growled out, gesturing towards the Iris message.

"Watch your tongue sister, I am still your king." Zeus said darkly as the air crackled with power.

"Of course, my king," Hestia replied with a stiff bow, her eyes never leaving Zeus's face. "We can't forget that you are the KING of the GODS. Let us never forget that the mighty Zeus graciously allows demigods to die in his place. The only change from then, is that this time around you know better than to throw Gods at them only to watch them die miserably. So instead you'll do it with Demigods." Hestia finished as she turned away from Zeus whose face was flushed gold with indignant rage.

However, even as the King of the Gods stood, so too did both Hades and Poseidon who locked eyes with their younger brother. "SIT DOWN" both Gods commanded as they held their weapons loosely at their sides.

"You can't hide from this Zeus, we are being plunged into another war, one we barely won last time. Those that did survive are either in this room, or faded long ago." Poseidon said wearily as he looked at Zeus. "We are weakened enough as it is, we cannot afford to fight amongst ourselves…"

"Sitting around won't solve this problem, and your children are at risk Zeus. As are many of the children of your fellow Olympians!" Hestia called out angrily. "Artemis is right in saying that if we don't do something many of them will die. If it's at the hands of Gaea's army, or that Ardwyrian doesn't matter.

"Hestia, what would you have us do? I barely escaped my encounter with him, and I didn't put more than a scratch on him. He clearly can't be killed through normal means and he appears even more powerful now! None of the younger Olympians know how to fight them, and those of us that do are several thousand years out of practice!" Hades said as he gestured to the absolute havoc the Ardwyrian was causing.

Athena was about to question exactly what Gods had joined them in the fight and what Hades had meant by her not knowing how to fight. That's when she caught the sudden movement out of the corner of her eye as Krios was sent flying away from the fight. Only for the Ardwyrian to move so quickly he simply seemed to disappear. However it was short lived, as he reappeared a second later, his arm buried to the elbow in Lelantos' chest.

For a second the two stood there, and then the Ardwyrian savagely ripped his hand out of the Titans chest, a waterfall of ichor following the action, he just stood there and watched as Lelantos dropped to his knees.

The looked down on the kneeling dying titan disdainfully, before he reached up and grabbed one of his wings with one free hand. Then he kicked the Titan of the Hunt in the chest, sending him flying backwards, and ripping the wing clean out of his back in the process.

"... how do we even fight that?..." Dionysus asked, his voice full of concern as he watched Lelantos' body soar through the air before slamming into the ground nearly two hundred feet away.

"Your powers won't mean a thing to him… it requires a different skill set" Hestia replied darkly, but what surprised Athena more than Hestia's grim nature was the readiness with which Poseidon and Hades seemed to agree with her, both of the brothers watching the battle intently while nodding along to what Hestia was saying.

"You can't be a serious Hestia?" Ares asked in a deadpan voice, "That little punk wouldn't last ten seconds in a fight with me. Just let me unleash my Domain Father and I'll end him!" Ares finished as he pointed his sword at the floating message.

"Your domain won't matter to him Ares… and while it would be 'enjoyable' to watch you of all people get beaten to a pulp. We can't afford to lose another God to them, not now." Hades said quietly as he watched the Ardwyrian and Krios finally locate each other once more.

"Apollo, how is Lupa's condition!? I wish to know how she knew of this before it happened…" Zeus said with a grim look to his face as he clenched his fist about Master Bolt.

"She's a recovering father, why or how though I can't say, I don't even really know what happened to her. The wounds were clearly from a battle but she should have healed it herself, the energy supplied by her domain should have done most of the work. But she's too exhausted to speak or even move, something did this to her." Apollo said as he squinted and looked at Lupa in concentration.

"The Ardwyrian?" Dionysus asked hopefully.

"It's possible, but from what I can tell, the wounds looked like claws, and that scary bastard uses a sword and a spear. So unless he can suddenly turn into some sort of monster with claws I'd rule him out on this one." Apollo said casually as he returned to his throne, his face drawn and exhausted.

"So what do we do then?" Athena asked as she looked around at the gods. Hoping that someone would suggest something other than sitting here, because with each moment she watched the devastation grow the fear she felt for her children only skyrocketed.

"I have little doubt in my mind that the younger Olympians are not ready for the threat that he poses, and if he is of royal blood several of us could be dead before the end if we chose to engage him now" Hera added cautiously, "He just took on three titans single handedly, and he's winning. Not to mention he may be mortal but there is clearly some magic at work or the blow from Koios would have killed him as Hades said." she finished as she looked around the room at the other gods.

"NONE OF THAT MATTERS!" Artemis screamed at Hestia as she ran at the Goddess. "YOU, YOU OUT OF ALL OF THEM! I EXPECTED YOU TO SIDE WITH ME!" Artemis cried out in anger as she tried to rush past Hestia again. "I WON'T LEAVE THEM TO DIE!"

However this time Hestia wasn't as subtle about what she had done, the flames around the goddess roared to life. The force of her aura alone tossed Artemis across the room. "ENOUGH" The goddess of the hearth said with deadly calm as she looked at her niece.

Another thunderous explosion echoed out through the throne room as the hurricane began to intensify. Lighting arcing about the sky so quickly it looked like the clouds were alive with thousands of snakes.

Krios stood on one side of the field, his sword raised above his head as beams of starlight pieced through the whirling clouds and seemed to fuse into his sword, until it glowed a brilliant white, surrounded by a silvery aura as the blade radiated power in waves.

The Ardwyrian on the other hand simply charged towards the Titan, a massive serpent made of water and ice forming behind him, almost following the line of his sword as he ran at Krios. Athena was in awe, the ground behind him was being torn apart as a construct made entirely of water, which was easily the size of a leviathan itself as it crashed along behind the Ardwyrian. The warrior leapt into the air as he approached the Titan. The pair swung their blades at each other with incredible force.

That's when the entire view of the iris message was filled with an earth shattering explosion and a blinding white light.

It knocked trees over like matchsticks and blasted the hurricane force winds apart for an instant, almost dispelling the storm with the force of the explosion alone. The cloud of dust and rubble it threw into the air combined with the steam and rain and hail to form an almost impenetrable barrier, so much so that even with her Godly sight Athena could not make out any details.

"He has to be dead… that blast would kill some Gods, and this is a mortal we're talking about, he should have been vaporized by that!" Dionysus called out, looking at the scene of the camp with horror.

Ares however seemed excited, a wide grin was present on his face as he watched the resulting carnage. It disgusted Athena how her brother acted at times, he was a great warrior it was true, the personification of war itself. But he was too bloodthirsty, too driven to kill for the sake of killing itself.

She was every bit his equal as a warrior, but she viewed battle as a means to an end, one which could be avoided, and should be if possible. However she couldn't deny that; the knowledge that this Ardwyrian was so powerful had made her want to fight him as well. If only to prove to every God in the room that while they may be afraid of a Mortal, she was not.

Artemis seemed to be in shock as she stared at the destruction dumbfounded, sinking to her knees on the floor as the shockwave washed out over the surrounding area, knocking over trees as far away as the edge of camp itself.

"...they're all going to die if we don't do something! Hestia let me go! Please!" Artemis said as she turned and looked at Goddess of the hearth simply stared at her sadly, Before turning to look at Zeus as her eyes hardened. "Are you really going to hide behind some laws you wrote, while your daughter begs to go fight a monster of your making!?" Hestia growled out as she looked at the God of Thunder.

Athena stood from her throne as she strode down towards the center of the floor looking into the cloud of dust and rubble. "How do we fight them, Hestia? I have children within the camp, I do not wish to see them die for my fathers sins." Athena said as she drew her shield off her back.

"Worry not Athena, I am the Goddess of Home and Hearth, I would not abandon the Demigods, even if I wont allow you to go fight the Ardywrian. I know you love them as children, Artemis, I would not let anyone take them from you." Hestia replied with a smile. "I have chosen a champion to walk among them, the Will of Fire burns stronger in him than any other Demigod I have ever met, save for Perseus Jackson himself."

"What good will a champion do? He's still a demigod. How can he possibly fight against that!?" Hermes called out as he watched in awe. A series of concussive blasts ringing out from within the sphere of dust. Followed immediately by several flashes of intense white light and the sound of metal grinding on metal.

"Silence Hermes….. My sister is the firstborn of Kronos and Rhea, the power she wields and thereby grants with her blessing is immense. It may not be enough to kill that thing…. But it may be enough to ensure the safety of the Demigods" Poseidon said warily as he stood and looked at the Iris message concern written across his face.

"What in the name of Chaos herself…." Zeus whispered softly as suddenly the entire area was lit with an intense green glow. Emanating from within the cloud of debris.

Then it was as if the debris cloud simply didn't exist anymore, it was blasted away by some incredible surge of air pressure. After it had cleared it revealed the Ardwyrian, who stood with his arms extended, gripping the handle of his blade as it was buried halfway into Krios' chest. The remains of the titans greatsword lay cloven in half on the ground several feet away.

".. he just broke his symbol of power…." Athena whispered in shock, something that was echoed in the faces of everyone save for Hestia whose eyes were filled with an intense grief and Zeus who looked at the scene with a look of fear flashing across his face.

"No one is to go near him" Zeus said hesitantly as he looked at the Iris message, his face having gone pale as he swallowed and repeated himself louder. "NO ONE IS TO GO NEAR HIM!"

"But father!" Both Athena and Artemis went to cry out, already moving towards him. But the King of the Gods was having none of it, "He is a danger to each and every one of us. Tell the Demigods to retreat, to flee the camps. Do what you have to, but keep yourselves away from that monster at all costs. Hestia was right when she said it takes a different set of skills to beat them."

"Father, if this single Ardwyrian is too powerful for us to fight, how can you expect the demigods to fight in our place!" Athena shouted at Zeus.

"Athena, if he strips you of your domain, that will be the end of it. He will kill you and you won't come back." Zeus said without looking at his daughter. "I won't risk my children like that…."

"Then we stop him! Together," Artemis shouted.

"Artemis, Athena, while I don't agree with your fathers stance here. I agree that you two alone have a very slim chance of winning. That's if he doesn't know how to strip your domains, if he's of royal blood then it could take several of us to overwhelm him and even then it might not be enough" Hestia said as she turned to look at Zeus.

"Have you learned your lesson yet brother?" Hestia said with a sigh. "You fought so hard to prevent this outcome, the one you feared, where an Ardywrian would rise up against us. Against you." She turned and looked at the flames, "But yet again, you tried to avoid the prophecy, to circumnavigate fate and look where it has landed us" Hestia finished with a sigh.

"They were a threat then and they are a threat now!" Zeus shouted back at Hestia as he stood from his throne. "I did what I had to do in order to protect Olympus and my family!" Zeus roared out as his voice echoed around the throne room, silencing the bickering of the other gods.

"No" Hestia replied calmly as she turned to look at Zeus once more, "You did exactly what our father did. You tried to remove a threat to your reign, and now just like your father. Those decisions are coming back to haunt you." Hestia said with finality in her voice.

"What?" Hermes asked in confusion. "What are you talking about Hestia?"

Athena couldn't help but notice how Zeus looked uncomfortable, and Athena knew her father. He might bend the truth but he wasn't one to outright lie, so if he looked this uncomfortable at the mere mention of his actions to prevent some prophecy then Hestia's words held some truth.

"Your father was blessed with a prophecy in his younger years, one that predicted he would lose his throne in the same way that his father lost his." Hera answered angrily. "To a child of his own, you know your father has never been able to control himself, that isn't a new trait. So one day in his wisdom he took a famed Ardwyrian beauty to bed. The daughter of King Aerion, Princess Llania." Hera said through gritted teeth as she looked at Zeus with a hate filled gaze.

"... father….. You didn't?..." Artemis said as she looked at her father in horror. Athena wincing, her sister held the domain of childbirth, and it didn't take a genius to put together what her father had done, and what had happened as a result.

"It was an abomination, I could not allow something like that to come into existence so I did what I had to do…." Zeus said, his voice thick with anger as he glared at the other Gods. "You all question my decisions yet none of you are innocent in this, you were all content to sit in silence for millennia about this."

"They knew it was you Zeus, they always suspected but they couldn't prove it was you. Their daughter developed madness overnight, days after she was found to be bearing a child? Then to throw herself from the ramparts of their palace in the dead of night?" Poseidon said angrily.

"They may have never known for sure if it was you, but the suspicion was enough" Hades added in an exhausted tone. It looked like he had been about to say something else, but the Iris message once more caught their attention.

The Ardwyrian chose this moment to remove his sword from Krios' chest as he collapsed to his knees. Dropping his sword to his side as ichor poured from his mouth, and the ruined mess that was his chest.

Athena watched in horror as black smoke seemed to pour from the chest of the Ardwyrian and his arm which had been shattered and bent like a crooked stick realigned itself slowly. Before he very eyes the muscles and bones repaired themselves and within seconds the Ardwyrian began to test out his freshly healed shoulder.

A few words were exchanged between Krios and the Ardwyrian but unfortunately for them the Iris message couldn't pick anything up. Instead giving them a clear view of the two talking. Before the Ardywrian raised his sword in one hand, and casually lopped Krios' head off his shoulders.

Then the Ardwyrian moved towards his fallen weapons, pausing long enough to stab the still living form of Lelantos several times, watching the body until it began to dissolve before he moved back towards the middle of the field.

His course was clearly set, as he marched directly towards the Roman camp.

"So what do we do!?" Athena shouted as she turned to look at her father and the other gods. "You say he's too dangerous for any one God to fight, but what other option do we have!? If the laws bind us from action the only one capable of doing anything is Artemis!" Athena raged from beside her Sister, whose pale face was streaked with tears of rage as she looked at the older Olympians.

"I will not forget this…. If you force me to sit here and watch my hunters die, father… I will never forgive you." Artemis said in a voice so full of loathing and hatred that Zeus actually flinched.

Athena turned to look at her sister, laying a hand on her shoulder as she did so, "You won't stand alone Artemis, I almost lost my daughter once by letting her fight my battles…. I won't make that mistake twice." Athena finished as a blast of golden light flared out around her to reveal her in all her glory. Golden Greek armor covered her body, and a large plumed helmet sat upon her head. She hefted Aegis in one hand and her spear in the other as she turned to look at the council of Olympians.

"Our children are going to die, and that monster" She said as she pointed her spear at the image of the Ardywrian limping towards the Roman Encampment. "Will be what kills them. So say what you will about Ancient laws, or what we can do. This is about what we should do! We cannot abandon the demigods to death and destruction!" Athena said loudly as she slammed her spear into the floor of the council chamber.

"Perseus gave his life for my daughter, Poseidon you yourself said we had to honor his sacrifice! What honor is there in it if she dies, along with all the other campers because of a mistake you and the other Olympian's made millennia ago?"

There was silence in the room for a moment as Poseidon sat on his throne, his face dark and brooding. Then a flash of sea green light filled the room as Poseidon stood, his eyes crackling with power. "You are right Athena…. We owe it to them… I owe it to my son."

Hades nodded as he stood as well, "Poseidon you know as well as I do that while our brother may be a paranoid fool, he is right about the ancient laws. They were written for a reason in case you have forgotten…" Hades said angrily as he looked at the Iris message.

Both of his children were members of the quest, and both of them were less than a mile from the battle. Athena knew Hades was barely able to resist flashing down to save his children, she could tell just by the way the shadows in the room danced angrily about the walls, and by the sheer pressure of Hades aura as he struggled to contain his emotions.

"There is no need for those brothers…. I have another plan in mind" Hestia said with a small smile from the side of the room. "Artemis, I will not let you run to your death, but neither will I abandon the Demigods. Hades, Poseidon… I will need your help to set her free." Hestia said with a determined look on her face.

Athena was about to ask 'set who free' but upon seeing the look of sheer horror on Zeus' face. Followed immediately by the pale face of Poseidon as he looked at Hestia in concern.

"She has slept since the burning of Anatolia… you had us put her there so that you could never do anything like that again….." Hades said quietly as he looked at Hestia.

"I won't be the one to command her…. As I said, the Will of Fire burns strong in my Champion. Now brothers, let us wake Kolasi." Hestia said as the fire in the hearth of Olympus roared to life, filling the room with heat and bright light.

Percy 4 Days & 45 minutes After Eripus

Percy sheathed his sword after giving it a cursory twirl to clear the blood channel of Krios' Ichor, grunting in discomfort as he limped towards his spear and Shield. He knew the sword wasn't going to take much more punishment, he had felt the blade flex dangerously during that clash with Krios, and he suspected that if another blow like that were to connect with the weapon, that would be the end of it. So Percy grabbed his spear and shield, his limp slowly fading the father he got from the battle behind him, Percy kept a steady pace in the direction of the Roman Camp.

All the while the storm continued to rage around him, causing the remaining monsters to run around in a panic as they tried to avoid the elements and the monster stalking them in the storm. Percy's senses were honed to perfection and any monsters unlucky enough to stumble into his path in the midst of the storm met a quick and painless end as Percy mercilessly cut down everything in his path.

He was tired, that last attack from Krios had hurt, more than he was willing to admit to anyone but himself. His curse mark was searing the skin on his chest as the taste of ash filled his mouth.

The impact of their weapons colliding had shattered Percy's arm, and the intense heat and energy that the collision had created had seared any uncovered skin, it was almost as if he had a 3rd degree burn over most of his arms and legs. Even now he could feel his skin knitting itself back together ever so slowly, the taste of ash fading from his mouth as his breathing became easier.

His curse had activated sometime during the clash, and he had felt the burning pain in the back of his head, for nearly thirty seconds now. The following waves of nausea and pain had left him feeling dizzy and tired, but what was more concerning is that the episodes of brain melting pain seemed to be getting longer and longer with each instance.

He needed to understand what the hell this thing actually did, or better yet remove it. But Percy knew he couldn't get rid of it until he knew what exactly he was dealing with. Which meant he needed to start there. He knew who he was going to talk to, and if he had to pluck his feathers one by one Percy was going to MAKE Thanatos tell him what the fuck Tartarus had cursed him with.

But right now he still needed the curse, as much as he hated to admit it. He was powerful, immensely so. But he wasn't immortal or invulnerable like most of the enemies he was fighting. He needed to curse to keep him alive, and he was pretty sure that the blow from Koios had broken his back as well. Not that it had seemed to matter to the dark magic, it had healed that injury just as quickly as any other.

He had only been hit a few times by the Titans but each of those blows had been incredibly powerful, and the reaction from his curse had been equally so. Which is what had led to Percy's current state. His mind felt foggy, like he hadn't slept in days but still he put one foot in front of the other. He wasn't done, not yet.

He still had a job to do, and he wouldn't abandon his friends, no matter how exhausted he was, or how much pain he was in. Percy was loyal to a fault, and the idea of letting the Romans deal with the other half of the army never even crossed his mind.

Percy walked along the once well kept strawberry fields, now more resembling photos he had seen from world war II, however that wasn't first and foremost on Percy's mind. Because he could clearly see the second army of Gaea ahead of him. Almost without any effort the storm responded to his will, the winds surging forwards over the host of monsters as a series of confused cries began to echo from the various creatures.

That was before the winds reached one hundred miles an hour or more, as the trees around the roman encampment began to shudder in the heavy winds. Percy casually strolled up the edge of a small hill, the air around him crackling with power as he drew on the Aetherium around him.

Every time he opened his mind to that power, every time he called on it he was still amazed by the vastness of it. Percy grit his teeth as he drew on as much power as he could handle, his skin feeling like it was on fire as he released it into the storm.

Percy's sea green aura roared to life around him; as he stood on the top of the hill looking over the chaos that was the Eastern gate of the Roman fortress. Monsters swarmed about the entrance as lines of Legionnaires held them back with a solid shield wall and well timed use of volley fire from the tops of the walls.

But even from here Percy could tell it wouldn't last, there were several massive monsters converging on the thick of the battle. He could see a roaring pillar of fire in the middle of the melee and he had no idea who or what it was, but it seemed to be carving a path of destruction through the front ranks of the monsters, alongside several other figures who were single handedly holding the front line.

Two massive Drakons as well as several giants, and of course his Targets.

The remaining Titans; Perses, Pallas and Oceanus.

The storm responded to his commands as the raw energy he was channeling into it resulted in the skies letting loose a roaring sound. Lighting leaping across the skies like fireworks as Percy pointed his spear at the middle of the monstrous host.

For a moment it was like nothing had changed, then a strange whistling sound could be heard as the clouds began to swirl overhead, the winds picking up in speed as several smaller monsters were tossed about in the gale.

Then like some biblical fist of god, a pillar of swirling air and clouds seemed to drop from the heavens, slamming into the ground with the force of a small bomb as dust and debris were scattered about the area. The ground rumbling dangerously as the hurricane Percy was controlling slammed into the ground.

The sheer force of the storm destroyed monsters by the dozen as the winds roared and lighting flashed within the storm. Then ever so slowly Percy released his hold on the elements, watching with grim satisfaction as a bloody smear of gold and red covered a large portion of where the army had once stood.

Already Oceanus was looking in his direction questioningly as Percy grinned underneath his helmet. The ground around him shook as he pushed his aura to its utmost extent. Enjoying the look of genuine fear that Crossed Oceanus' face as he called out to Palls and Perses. Gesturing towards Percy on the hill with his large trident.

He could hear the roar of Roman horns and trumpets being blown as the Demigods surged forwards and began to push back the Titan forces. Who were still in shock after the absolute carnage Percy had dropped on top of them. The sound of their clash was accentuated with various explosions of fire and cracks of lightning as the air grew thick with the stench of burning flesh.

Pillars of fire and bolts of lighting were flying out from a small group of warriors at the front of the Eastern Gate. Even from this distance, Percy could easily make out Thalia, Nico and Leo fighting alongside Reyna and Frank. The five of them cut a swath of destruction through anything that came near them.

The Drakons and smaller Giants charged ahead, but already the rear portion of the army had realized that the greatest threat they faced was not the Roman Demigods within the encampment.

Unfortunately for the closest of them they realized it far too late to actually do anything about it.

Percy tensed the muscles in his legs and launched himself at the monsters. The ground behind him shattered as he seemed to vanish.

The first few monsters didn't even seem to register he was in front of them, that was until several of their companions were already bleeding out around them as Percy whirled through their ranks.

His spear whistled as it sped through the air, its motions so fluid it was almost a work of art.

Percy rushed forwards, lifting his shield to block a blow of a cyclops as he thrust his spear into the creature's stomach. Watching with satisfaction as the creature froze, its features contorted in agony. But Percy wasn't done yet, his aura surged around him as the cyclops' scream was cut short. Percy leaned back and kicked the Cyclops off the end of his spear, sending the monster hurtling backwards. Knocking over other monsters like bowling pins.

Turning ever so slightly he blocked another swing of a weapon, responding with a casual flick of his spear, the water in the air responding to his command instantly as a blast of pressurized water slammed into the creatures chest, throwing it to the ground as it struggled to breathe as the water froze around its face covering its mouth and nose as it failed for several moments.

Percy continued to wade through the host, his attention always focused on the three Titans who watched his approach with a hint of nervousness. Each thrust of his spear killed a monster, and the blast of water that followed it cut down dozens more as it flowed around him like some sort of living creature.

To an outsider looking in, it appeared as if Percy was surrounded by a swirling snake made of golden water. With deadly efficiency Percy fought his way through the monsters, until after nearly two minutes he stood in the middle of a large gap in the army. Dozens of monsters forming a massive ring around him, but none of them dared to step within his reach as he looked around, a slight grin on his face.

"I take it this is thanks to you?" Came a harsh voice as Pallas stepped out on his left, holding a large spear in one hand as he gestured to the storm and regarded Percy coldly. "Would you care to tell me what your name is, so my brothers and I at least have the courtesy of knowing who we are going to kill." The titan finished angrily as a red aura began to shimmer around him.

"His name doesn't matter Pallas, you felt what happened to the others just as I did. At first I had suspected some trickery on the part of the Gods. But it appears as if our Aunt is behind this…" Perses said, the titan of destruction voice was refined as always. Pointing at the crest engraved on Percy's helmet with his large sword.

"Guilty as charged" Percy replied casually as he looked at the two titans, one on his left and one of his right.

"I am going to enjoy killing you, how my weakling brothers lost to one of you is beyond me. But I promise you we are not cut from the same cloth so to speak.." Perses snarled.

"Silence you fool, you saw what he did to Koios and Krios…" Came the reply from Oceanus as he looked at Percy with open interest clear on his face. "But I do have a question Ardwyrian… the Gods slaughtered your people… why do you fight against us? You must know we seek to end the reign of Olympus. Surely you can see the justice in this!"

"I don't care about you and the Olympians, My patron is quite content with things as they are. And the lot of you are going to get in the way of that." Percy replied grimly as he banged his spear off his shield. "Not to mention, killing Titans is kind of my thing" Percy said as he launched himself at Pallas, who happened to be the closest of the bunch.

All at once everything exploded into Chaos.

Percy felt Oceanus calling on his domain, and just like he had with Hades Percy directed all his energy at the point where Oceanus was concentrating the Aetherium. Snuffing out the Titans hold over the domain in an instant as a look of confusion followed immediately by shock played across Oceanus' face.

Pallas thrust out with his spear, a move which would have impaled a lesser opponent. But Percy simply swiped sideways with his own spear, the hafts of the weapons colliding as Percy used the leverage to twist his body away from the strike. Sliding to a stop a short distance from Pallas before he launched himself at the titan again.

This time he threw his spear at the titans head, followed instantly by his shield.

The titan swung his shield up to block the spear, however he made the mistake of dropping his shield after he heard the spear bounce off. Instantly receiving Percy's shield to the face as a reward, a metallic ringing not unlike that of a giant bell echoed out as Pallas' head snapped backwards.

This gave Percy the opening he wanted as he rushed forwards, leaping into the air and snatching his spear as he thrust the weapon ahead. Aiming for Pallas' neck.

However, he felt a sudden impact on the spear as he was tossed aside, an explosion of force rocketing him backwards several dozen feet as he slammed into the ground groaning.

Through his blurry vision he stumbled to his feet to see Perses standing there, his arm outstretched as the large sword he held in one hand hovered directly in front of Pallas. Apparently these two were going to work together, unlike the other three Percy thought with a grimace as he stood up, dirt and gravel raining off his armor as he stepped out of the crater he had made.

A massive surge of water rushed towards him as Oceanus extended his hand, Percy responded by splitting the wave with his powers. Allowing it to surge past him on either side, before he reached out and grabbed hold of the water, straining for a moment against Oceanus before he ripped the water from his grasp. Sending it hurtling back towards the Titans, except at the last second Percy threw both his arms to the left.

Sending the massive wave straight into Perses and launching him away from the pair and the water hammered him off his feet.

Letting loose a roar of anger Pallas' red aura surged to life around him as he charged towards Percy, throwing out a series of spear thrusts, each accentuated with a blast of power as Pallas tried to smash him to pieces.

Percy gave ground quickly, backing up as he was under attack for all sides. Using his powers to halt Oceanus from using his domain while fighting Pallas was difficult enough. But a roar of anger followed by a small explosion from the field signaled the imminent arrival of Perses.

Percy slammed his foot into the ground, sending out a ripple around him as Pallas stumbled if only for a second. Giving Percy all the time he needed to close the gap, his spear extended in his left hand, the tip thrusting for Pallas' exposed throat. Even as his right hand reached for the handle of his sheathed sword.

The titan of war didn't disappoint, reacting with incredible speed and awareness as he threw his shield up to cover his face, blocking the spear thrust as his shield rang like a bell. However, that was immediately followed by a scream of pain as Percy swung out with his sword, drawing it out of its scabbard in a horizontal downward slash.

The blade slicing cleanly through the flesh of Pallas' thigh, a flood of ichor burst from the deep wound as Pallas stumbled to the side, almost dropping his spear in agony as Percy spun away from him. Allowing the Titan to crash to the ground as he grabbed at the wound in his leg.

However his victory was short lived, as suddenly the air itself felt alive for a moment, and then several orbs of black energy whipped out of nowhere directly at Percy. It was only the reflexes granted to him by his domain and the experience of years of questing that saved him.

The water that was swirling around him condensed into a protective shell an instant before the balls of energy slammed into the ground around him. Then all he saw was white for a moment, and all he could feel was pain.

The sound was unlike anything he had ever heard before, like thousands of glass mirrors shattering all at once, everything was ripping itself apart as Percy was launched clear of the blast zone like a bullet from a gun. Barely conscious of what was going on save for the pain he was in. It almost didn't register as he crashed into the Southeastern watch tower of the Roman Encampment.

Every bone in his body felt broken, he could taste iron in his mouth and smell it in the air as several of his ribs pierced his lungs.

The entire structure shook with the impact as Percy crashed through the rough dirt wall and sandbag structure. The sound of cracking timber and snapping wires was the last thing Percy heard before the roof collapsed down on top of him. The various ballista bolts and other explosives that had been stored in the tower crashed to the floor before a second explosion rippled out. The shockwave knocked demigods and monsters alike to the ground in an instant.

For a moment everything was dark.

Then with a groan Percy opened his eyes. Everything hurt, and his lungs felt like they were on fire as he tried to breathe only to find he couldn't.

Blood was leaking from his mouth as he struggled to focus. Something had landed on top of him and it just so happened to be the ruined remains of the ballista, several of the wooden limbs having shattered and pierced his side when it crashed onto him.

He could hear the screams of the demigods outside the rubble, calling for water and children of Apollo for the wounded. He could already feel the cries for vengeance in his mind as he struggled against it, he couldn't lose control.

With an animalistic growl Percy practically threw the wreckage off of himself as his aura surged outwards. Blowing most of the rubble away from him as he forced himself to his feet quickly, reaching down to grab the large piece of wood that had pierced his side where the armor had been cut open by Koios. With a scream of pain and anger he ripped it clean out, dropping to one knee as his vision blurred and black smoke poured from the mark on his chest.

The pain in the back of his head left him immobile, a wordless scream frozen on his lips as tears ran down his face. For nearly forty seconds he knelt there, his arms at his sides as he struggled to free himself from the episode.

Finally the black smoke cleared and he retched onto the ground in front of himself as wave after wave of nausea assaulted his senses.

He heard voices shouting out orders, he could hear the clink of armor so distantly as he tried to collect his thoughts.

He was Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson and this wasn't going to put him down. If he couldn't kill these Titans down then there was no way that the Romans would.

His skin was still steaming when he stood up and looked around at the devastation his impact had caused. Dozens of roman demigods in armor stood around him, shields raised and weapons leveled in his direction as several plumed officers screamed orders in Latin.

Percy reached out with one hand, waiting patiently as several rocks around him rumbled and then his sword shot out of the wreckage into his waiting hand. However his spear was nowhere to be found, however he did still have one weapon to use. And it would be his last chance for a while, so without a moment's hesitation he held his hand out and concentrated, feeling the sudden sensation of a pen in his hand before he grinned.

In that instant he was gone, rushing past the stunned demigods in a blur as he leapt clear over the low wall and trench, landing on the other side in the thick of combat as he uncapped riptide. Letting the sword spring free as he began to hack and slash his way through the monstrous forces, the sword from Nyx in his left, and riptide in his right.

The mental cries of vengeance from Eko's blessing were overwhelming, he could feel dozens of voices adding themselves to the wail with each second as more and more demigods were injured or slain in the fighting.

So he pushed himself faster, harder.

He stopped in front of two giants, throwing Nyx's sword into the first one's face as it reared back in pain screaming. Then Percy spun to his right, avoiding a massive club smashing into the ground as he laid his left hand on the weapon, pinning it to the ground with little effort while the creature looked at him in shock.

Then in the blink of an eye riptide flashed downwards and severed both of its hands at the wrist as Percy tightened his grip on the club, the wooden handle cracking under his grip as he spun around hefting it into the air as he did so.

He was rewarded by a spray of blood and teeth as he smashed the massive club into the giant's face, sending it flying backwards to crash into dozens of other monsters before it faded away to dust.

The sheer force behind the blow shattered the club in Percy's hand, so he stalked towards the other giant how had fallen backwards dead with Percy's sword embedded at least three feet deep in its eye.

A cyclops tried to rush towards him while he was pulling his sword free of the dead giants skull, Percy simply grunted in frustration and took hold of the monsters blood, his head twitching to the side as the cyclops contorted like a rag doll, the sound of dozens of bones breaking at once rang out clearly as Percy released his hold on the monster and it dropped the the ground lifelessly.

With a final grunt he ripped his sword free of the Giants head, tearing a good portion of its face off in the process with the jagged hooked blade. Already more monsters were rushing towards him, their weapons raised as they let loose a series of fierce war cries.

Percy simply charged at the wordlessly, launching himself into the air right as he came into reach of the first cyclops. Driving his knee into its face as its head practically exploded under the sudden impact.

The sudden halt to his moment flipped him over the back of the dying monster as he lashed out to both sides with his swords. Riptide lodged itself in the throat of another Cyclops and his other lopping the head of two telkhines as the charged at him.

Letting go of the handle of riptide Percy dropped to the ground with a roll, calling upon the water in the air as he slashed around himself in a circle, sending out a wave of water that launched everything away from himself.

He stood up holding his hand out patiently until he felt the familiar weight of a pen in his closed fist, before he uncapped riptide once more and turned to look at the three Titans who were regarding him with looks of open hatred.

"HOW ARE YOU EVEN ALIVE!?" Pallas screamed out across the battlefield as he and Perses charged forwards.

Percy waited, calmly drawing on the power of his father and the blessings of the Tartarii as the water in the air around him seemed to freeze. The rain everywhere stopped in place, twitching in the air for a moment before it all began to rush towards Percy.

Pallas seemed to realize the threat just in time, throwing his shield in front of himself while Perses simply charged him with his sword already cocked back into a massive swing. Several of those black orbs formed around him in an instant, before they sped off towards Percy and the camp behind him.

Percy's aura surged to life as the water roared past him slamming into the destructive orbs as they detonated in between Percy and Perses. The massive cloud of debris and steam that the explosion threw into the air masked the two combatants from each other. But it didn't matter to Percy, he could sense where Perses was.

Rushing into the cloud of steam Percy threw riptide in front of him and deflected the blow from Perses, trying not to think about what would have happened to him had the sword actually hit him when the ground at his side exploded as Perses' strike made contact with it.

However he was too close to stop and so between his momentum and the explosion he slammed into Perses shoulder first, launching both of them clear of the cloud of steam. The remaining water in the air rushed towards Pallas, hammering into his shield and driving him backwards.

Percy was on his feet in an instant, his swords swinging through the air as Perses struggled to get up off his back and find his footing. His large sword was unwieldy to use from his back and very quickly his arms and face were covered in slash marks.

A single kick launched Perses backwards away from him as the titan dug a trench into the earth, his free hand slamming into the soaked soil to try and slow his speed. He slammed into a small cluster of trees by the edge of the forest with a series of crashes and bangs. Throwing up a large cloud of mud and debris.

A roar of rage sounded from behind him as Pallas charged towards him his spear thrust out ahead of him. However Percy spun around, deflecting the spear wide with riptide, and driving his other blade deep into Pallas' stomach, twisting and pulling as he ripped the jagged sword free.

Pallas sagged forwards clutching at his stomach as Percy snapped his head forwards, headbutting Pallas in the face and knocking the titan onto his back as he lay there groaning and coughing up ichor.

Percy could feel Eko's blessing like an itch in the back of his mind as it called out for him too exact punishment, every demigod that died here had died because Pallas and his brothers had led this army here.

Their souls called for justice, their souls called for vengeance.

And Percy was to be the Judge, Jury and executioner of their will.

The sea green aura around him crackled as energy arced off his skin, Pallas lifted his head weakly and looked at Percy in horror. Then Percy lifted on foot and ever so casually channeled the powers of the earth shaker as he drove the iron shod sandals clean through the faceplate of Pallas' war helm. His head exploded like an overripe tomato under the force of Percy's strike.

The titan twitched for a few moments before he began to dissolve into dust.

"NOOOOOO! PALLAS! YOU BASTARD!" came a scream of rage from the forest behind him as Perses rushed free of the trees. His sword pulsing with power as he charged towards Percy.

However in the instant he was distracted by the Titan of Destruction he felt something rush up behind him, not really running, more like it was flowing across the ground. Like water.

He sensed the strike coming as he threw himself flat onto his back, a large bronze trident thrusting through the space where he had been moments before as he continued the roll planting his hands on the ground as he kicked out with his feet. Connecting with the stomach of Oceanus as the titan let out a cry of shock. Stumbling away from Percy as he gasped for air, his chest plate now dented in almost beyond repair as it constricted his chest.

Rolling to his feet Riptide darted up to intercept a strike, the ground around him shuddering under the impact as mud and water flew in all directions. He felt riptide bend and almost break as a blast of energy roared out around them. Sending dirt and rocks flying as the Titan of destruction called upon his domain.

"WHY WONT YOU JUST DIE!" Roared Perses as a pitch black aura began to shimmer in the air around the titan. His hair seeming to stand on end as the pressure in the air became so intense several of the monsters nearby simply passed out. Dropping to the floor limp and lifeless.

Percy responded with a thrust of his sword, forcing Perses to take a step backwards as the two disengaged. Oceanus rushed towards Percy, his trident spinning around him as he tried to buy Perses time. Perses meanwhile had taken several steps backwards as he summoned more of those strange destructive orbs around himself in the air.

However Percy didn't have time to worry about that, Oceanus was pressing the attack, his trident spinning around him in a blur as Percy's sword weaved about him like a living shield of steel. Each strike from him was intercepted by Oceanus, only to be returned and blocked only to be countered again as the two warriors traded blows of titanic proportions.

He could hear Perses running towards him, he could feel the titan moving through the air. Feel the ichor pumping through his veins. Leaping into the air clean over a strike from Oceanus, Percy kicked off the titans chest. Launching himself back towards Perses, his swords swingin down in a cross chop as he slashed through two of the strange magical orbs. percy as moving too fast and almost seemed to vanish from sight as he landed on the ground roughly ten feet behind Perses. His legs tensing once as the ground around him exploded and he flew at the titans backside. Riptide seperated his arm from his body, and the other sword left a jagged and deep wound across the Perses back as the titan fell forwards screaming.

A surge of power roared out from the Titan as Percy covered himself with his arms, roaring in pain as the skin on his arms and face was burned away. The blast threw him off balance and sent him tumbling across the muddy field as he flailed in agony. One of his eyes swimming with spots as the curse mark on his chest flared up once more.

He could feel himself losing his grip on reality. The pain in his head was driving him insane as he almost bit his tongue off clenching his teeth against the agony as his body healed.

However he didn't have time to rest, he could feel the Titans headed for him as he tried to focus. Leaping to his feet and throwing his swords up as another flurry of stabs and slashes from Oceanus forced Percy into another pitched battle as the air around him was alive with sparks. His two swords worked furiously to keep the Titan of the seas at bay. After a few moments the fighting intensified as Perses had finally made his way back towards the brawl and joined in, swinging his sword with one arm as he howled in rage, spit flying from his mouth as he was more animal that titan at this point.

The three of them were locked in a battle, the three of them fighting in a class all their own, in ways that surpassed anything a mortal should have been capable of, and that of several gods themselves. Blood and ichor flew through the air from a dozen minor injuries and cuts as the three warriors hammered away at each other.

Blasts of water and energy ripped apart the field around them as the two titans tried their hardest to stop Percy. Not that they were having much success/

Percy was long past conscious thought, his body was in so much pain, his brain was so foggy from the curse that he reacted almost on instinct alone as he fought like an animal. Darting about between the two Titans as he used his swords with deadly efficiency.

A simple mistake spelled the end of the fight, Perses overextended on a swing, allowing Percy to step inside his guard and punch out with the hilt of his sword. The impact dented Perses' helm and knocked the titan to the ground, Just in time for Percy to lash out with his foot. Smashing the titan in the face and sending his helmet soaring across the field.

Spinning around, Percy launched both of his swords into an upwards swing, the first blocking a strike from Oceanus' trident, the second taking Oceanus' hand from his wrist. A bellow of pain echoed across the battlefield as the trident fell to the ground, allowing Percy to spin to the side at the last instant. Perses greatsword flashing through the air and ripping open his side, the blade grating against his ribs as Percy narrowly avoided being impaled by the Titan of Destruction.

However Percy did his best to ignore the pain as he continued his rotation, allowing Perses to step past him as he slashed both his swords along the Titans spine, cutting through the armor like a hot knife through butter as he stumbled and fell.

Oceanus went to call on his powers, but unfortunately for him, Riptide spun end over end before slamming into his throat as the Titans Eyes went wide in shock. In an instant Percy was in front of the Dying titan, his hand wrapped around the hilt as he locked eyes with Oceanus.

Then ever so slowly he placed his foot on the titans chest, and ripped the sword free of his throat with a savage jerk. The motion nearly ripped the titans head clean off as Percy kicked the lifeless corpse onto its back and staggered towards the final Titan.

"You killed them all….. What kind of monster are you!" Perses cried out in anger as he lifted his sword for another swing.

"One that hunts other monsters" Percy replied, gasping for breath as he launched into another series of attacks, his swords whipping about him in a frenzy as he battered Perses backwards away from the corpse of Oceanus.

Percy noticed when Perses gave up, he almost saw the desire to fight leave the titans eyes as Percy's sword drove clean through his thigh. Severing tendons and muscles as Ichor poured from the wound.

'You haven't won Ardwyr… You can't defeat us all and If it means i must reform to end you than so be it!" Perses called out as Percy felt him channeling a vast amount of Atherium inside his own body.

In an instant all of Percy's willpower and strength surged forwards, like a tidal wave he crushed Perses hold on his domain. Smothering it in an instant as the look of confusion on Perses face morphed to one of Horror and he lifted his sword, swinging it down with wicked force as he tried to gut Percy like a fish.

Percy tensed his body and in and called upon his powers, Freezing Perses in place mid swing as Percy broke out in a cold sweat. Trying to control the titan was difficult, especially when he was fully capable of fighting back.

But with an animalistic scream of rage Percy forced the Titans body to contort and twist, the sound of cracking bones rang out clearly as blood seeped from Percy's nose, his lips tight in concentration. Peres on the other hand was howling inhumanly as blood gushed from his eyes, nose and ears.

Then with a sudden crunch, he went limp, suspended several feet in the air as Percy finally released his hold on the Titans ichor. Dropping the body to the ground with a dull thud as a wave of exhaustion drove him to his knees. The effort of the two battles back to back and the nearly constant use of Aetherium through the fights had drained him in a way he didn't think was possible, but at least it was over now.

Well that was what Percy had been thinking until the roar of some massive beast shook the heavens, drowning out the sound of the storm and all the other creatures doing battle around him.

Percy tried to stay focused, he tried to keep his wits about him. But the injuries he had suffered and the mental strain finally seemed to be too much as darkness threatened to overwhelm him.

He felt more than he saw the ground rushing towards him, but then something caught him. A firm pair of hands gripped him by the shoulders and hoisted him into the air with ease. The last thing he saw before darkness took him was a gray three piece suit, and a pair of piercing blue eyes.

.

Authors Note:

Wow, first off I wanted to celebrate a little bit, today is 2 months from my first post. In that time this story has gotten over 20k views. Now I know that's probably pretty small compared to other stories but it just seems like a huge number to me and I wanted to celebrate that!

So enjoy 20k words for the twentieth chapter!

Lots of stuff happened in this chapter, and it was actually going to be even longer than this, but I'm not insane and I can't edit a 30k word chapter. So There will be a bonus chapter released sometime this week that will cover what happened at Camp Jupiter prior to the battle, and what went on during Jasons encounter with Sally's father. (As well as a few other things I want to cover)

Obviously there was a lot talked about this chapter. Sallys Father? Kolasi? Why was Sally in hiding and why was she hiding Percy? Who is Sally's father? Sallira?

So it looks like it's going to boil down to Chapter 22 and Chapter 23 as the final climatic end to this arc. I've been waiting the better part of two months to write these few chapters and I wanted to thank you guys for sticking with me through the journey!

As always I appreciate anyone who takes the time out of their day to read my work, and I appreciate every review/fav and follow . Each and every one honestly makes my day, so thanks! As always, Until next time folks!