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!

21. Chapter 21: Clash Of The Titans Part III

Chapter Twenty One: Clash Of The Titans Part III

Comment Responses:

Ariacrimsis: I kinda loved that comment haha, as wack and mildly outrageous as it is, you are far too kind my dude. One Piece is a personal favorite of mine so for you to compare me to Oda was a great feeling lol. Ty for the compliment and I hope you love this chapter as well!

HellraiderS: Glad to hear you liked it! My rough draft of the story was like 400k and most of my rough draft chapters were like 8k words lol so there's lots more to come! Hopefully i'll finish before my wrists give out lol. Enjoy the chapter!

Yoganksri: Always glad to write it as long as you guys want to read it. As always, thanks for taking the time to read and enjoy this chapter!

Posaitan: I think a big part of why he bit the dust so many times during the fight with the titans is that I don't like the amount of Plot armor Percy had in the PJO and HOO series. The Gods and other beings are incredibly toned down in Rick's universe (Which works great there!) but I'm going for a slightly more combat oriented story and wanted to bring the powers the gods had slightly more in line with you know, Gods. So if the Titans are a threat to the Gods in one on one combat, It stands to reason that any 'mortal' or demigod besides Percy wouldn't last more than a few seconds in that fight.

You also aren't wrong in suggesting he uses Riptide as well as plenty of Poseidon like powers, the gods at the very least posideon would have to be crazy to not consider the possibility. But, are they too arrogant to believe they made a mistake, poseidon doesnt know that Sally is an Ardwyr let alone Percy. So it does lend credibility to the idea of it not being Percy. Anyhow stay tuned for the next chapter to see how the gods react. (I know I'm awful aren't I… muahahahah) Enjoy the chapter!

Guest: Alright, this was a great comment. And I'm glad to see that there's such an attachment to the character. However If you like the story I'll have to ask you to have a little faith in me. Because I will kill characters, and more than a few going forwards. But if someone dies, it won't be because I want to discard them from the story and end any development that occurs with those characters.

I put lots of time into working out character relationships, because if that feels off the whole story feels off in my opinion. Now I wont say what does or doesn't happen to sally, because I don't wanna do spoilers. But I think anyone who is a fan of Sally will be a fan of this iteration of the character and you get to see some of that in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it. And thanks for the comment, I always appreciate the chance to talk about the story!

Be lekker: Glad you enjoyed it! The best of this arc is yet to come, I am literally salivating at the mouth waiting to write it lol. It's been two months… I am ready…

Meryfcukery: well don't jinx me now, I can't outdo myself on a random chapter, it's the arc finale that needs to outdo everything else haha! I assure you, the next chapter makes what I wrote last chapter look kinda 'meh'. Fans of Dark Percy get your popcorn out.

Jason 3 Days 14 Hours and 30 minutes After Eripus

"As much time as you can get me…" Annabeth said as she continued to study the floor, Jason hadn't waited for her to look up, having seen her like this before on the Argo II. So he knew that she was off in her own world, which suited him just fine. He wanted to be as far away from Piper and her as possible right now.

He stormed away from them down the hallway angrily.

Jason understood missing Percy, they might not have started off on the best of terms. But Jason respected Percy, both for his ability to lead and his unmatched skill with a blade. That respect had turned into something more, a camaraderie of sorts.

They had been brothers in arms, and Percy had been the one person he could turn to. Someone he could ask questions, whose experience in leading demigods actually outweighed his own. Jason didn't have that brother anymore, and he honestly felt like he was barely keeping his head above the surface as the weight of leadership seemed to fall on his shoulders.

Sure Annabeth had decided to come here to talk about Percy, but neither she nor Piper were making rational decisions. Both of them were certain that someone had come and killed those monsters in the apartment, and neither one of them had said it. But the unspoken possibility that it could have been Percy had hung in the air before he had left angrily.

Percy was dead, and Jason was trying to pick up the pieces of the seven, all the while none of them seemed to want to accept the reality that Percy was gone. Which made things difficult, Jason didn't want to be the one to try and force everyone to see reality, but with the threat of Gaea hanging over their heads he knew that they had to focus on saving the demigods and Olympus.

So needless to say he was beyond frustrated that his own girlfriend was playing along with Annabeth about going to Tartarus to rescue Percy. Firstly, Jason had seen the haunted look on Annabeth's face when she talked about the place, this is coming from a girl with arachnophobia who had willingly walked into the nest of Arachne, Queen of Spiders. So if Tartarus had left such a lasting negative effect on Annabeth then Jason didn't even want to think about what was down there.

Secondly, there was no way in hell Piper understood what she was getting herself into. And Jason was pretty sure that if she did there was no way she would be playing along with Annabeth's idea of going to 'rescue' Percy. Annabeth was ready to dive into Tartarus and face the horrors of the Pit for him, and if Piper wasn't careful she was going to get dragged along with her.

All these thoughts and more raced through his head as he walked down to stand in front of the stairwell. Flipping his gold drachma over in his hand as he thought long and hard about the problem that had been bugging him since they had stepped foot on Olympus.

He felt angry, angrier than he had in a long time. It was like there was a voice whispering in the back of his head, every moment of every day. Something was wrong with his life, and every time he tried to come up with an answer, it all came back to Piper. Or more specifically Piper's mother, Aphrodite.

Jason was starting to realize that he couldn't trust his emotions around Piper, and even if he wouldn't admit it, the fact that her mother was the goddess of love unnerved him. What proof did he have that any of this was real, that anything he felt was real? The two of them might just be some pet project, just Piper's mother being bored, and making sure her daughters 'love life' was interesting.

Which left Jason in a rough spot he thought miserably, he couldn't ask Piper because no matter how angry, scared or irritated he was. He still knew that asking if their relationship was based on her mother controlling them would not end well, No matter how he worded the question.

So instead he had kept it to himself, the worry that everything he had could vanish on the whim of a particularly fickle goddess weighing heavily on him. Then add to that the problem he had around Annabeth, which actually left him feeling sort of sick to his stomach.

He had never been one to get flustered around girls, but Annabeth was driving him crazy, he thought to himself miserably. He had thought the idea of speaking to Percy's mom was not only a waste of time, but also a risky one. Yet, the second Annabeth had said she was going and he had volunteered to go with her, Without a second's hesitation. Partly because she needed someone to protect her, but mostly because he wanted to be the one to do it.

So Jason was in a bad mood, on one hand it was possible that he might not actually love Piper, that it could all just be fake. After all, why would he feel like this, why would those thoughts even cross his mind if their love was real. On the other hand it was clear that he also had feelings for Annabeth, which was fucked up. Her boyfriend being freshly dead in Tartarus and having been a friend of his in a way just made it worse.

No matter how he looked at it Jason was the bad guy, if it turned out that Aphrodite wasn't messing with him then he would have broken Piper's heart and ruined a friendship with Annabeth and spat on Percy's grave all in one fell swoop. Even if it was revealed that Aphrodite was messing with him he was done for.

If he was right, then he was still the bad guy, because, since when did Gods actually get punished for their actions? Aphrodite could destroy him on a whim, a simple wave of her hand. So it's not like he could take vengeance on her for ruining his life. The entire situation had left a bad taste in his mouth, and he had taken it out on Piper. Jason knew it, he knew it didn't make sense, but at least he knew the anger was real, that part of her Aphrodite couldn't fake… at least he hoped she couldn't.

Jason stood in the hallway for a moment, almost not noticing the heavy thuds drawing closer, the clang of some heavy object on metal ringing out at a steady pace as the Minotaur arrived. Looking battered and defeated, its armor a mangled wreck. Somehow it was still walking, and Jason looked at it incredulously. It exited the stairwell, and paused in the hall, Locking eyes with Jason.

The monster was glaring at him with one good eye shuffling back and forth in the hallway, perhaps fifteen feet from him. It looked, Nervous. Holding its axe in one hand, the metal warped and cracked as if it had been hit by something with incredible force. The armor he wore was made of black metal, and consisted of a chest plate, greaves and matching bracers. All of which were riddled with slash and scorch marks.

Jason and the Minotaur continued their standoff for a moment, before Jason flipped his coin, grabbing the hilt of his sword out of midair with his left hand as he beckoned the Minotaur forwards with his right.

The Minotaur responded with a bellow as he ran down the hallway forwards at Jason, swinging his heavy axe about as if it weighed nothing.

Jason waited until the last moment, his blade held steady at his side as the Minotaur charged towards him. The ground shaking as dust filled the hallway, chunks of plaster dropped from the ceiling as the lights flickered on and off with each thundering step the monster took.

The axe whistled through the air, almost screaming as Jason was forced to duck underneath the wild swing, for a split second a grin of satisfaction flashed across his face as the axe embedded itself in the wall. That is until the minotaur's foot slammed into his ribs, launching him down the hallway away from the creature as it tore the weapon free of the wall with a bellow of rage.

Jason slid on his back for nearly twenty feet before he bumped into the wall, However he was on his feet in an instant as he heard the monster snort almost in contempt before it started charging towards him.

Spitting blood and coughing as he stood Jason held his sword near the window behind him, enjoying the surge of power that rushed through his body as the stench of Ozone filled the air. Sparks popping off his skin in rapid succession as he felt the skies above respond to his call.

The monster ran at him blindly, almost frothing at the mouth as it swung the axe around in a fury, smashing into walls and doors as he charged down the ruined hallway. With the speed he was going at, if he so much as touched Jason both of them were going right through the wall behind him, and then dropping seven stories to the ground.

A fall which the minotaur had already survived once, and whatever that armor was made of Jason was pretty sure it had something to do with it.

Jason's gladius was held at his side, energy arcing off the blade as he tensed his muscles, waiting until it was close enough. "You picked a bad day to be here, but thanks I needed a punching bag" Jason cried out as he leveled his sword at the Minotaur's chest.

Immediately following that action a thunderous roar split the skies above him as the hallway was filled with a blinding flash of light and a wave of intense heat and shattered glass as Jason was tossed around the hallway by the explosion. The bolt of lighting collided with the Minotaur's axe, which glowed briefly before shattering, sending the monster hurtling backwards down the hallway. Smashing off the walls and ceiling almost comically as it came to rest at the end of the hallway near the stairs.

The air reeked of ozone and burnt hair, Jason's entire body felt charged, save for the few bumps and bruises, and possibly a broken rib. He had come out of that encounter mostly unharmed, which was a bonus. However, the minotaur had been in rough shape prior to him fighting it, someone or something had clearly blasted it out of the building.

"No wonder Percy turned you to minced meat…." Jason scoffed as he turned and walked down the hallway, headed back towards the stairs as he contemplated the whole situation. Something was clearly going on, and somehow Sally Jackson was involved, which did not bode well for anyone Jason thought miserably.

Unfortunately Jason's mind wasn't focused on keeping an eye on the Minotaur who had already survived death once, and was instead focused on what could possibly be a greater threat.

Luckily for him, he sensed the fist swinging at his chest, unluckily for him he didn't have much time to react.

So when the Minotaur's fist collided with his chest, Jason was just able to turn sideways enough for it to be a glancing blow.

That glancing blow still felt like a sledgehammer being driven into his chest as he was thrown clean through one of the apartment walls, slamming into a table before flipping over and ending up lying on the floor against the wall by the balcony door.

Jason groaned as he struggled to process the sudden change in location, shaking his head like a dog as he heard the monsters wheezing bellow from just outside the room. The air was filled with a haze of smoke and dust.

Jason knew he had to get up, that thing could crush him with its bare hands and he had moments before it was in the room, and then maybe a few more seconds until it spotted him. If he wasn't on his feet by that point he was dead, and what a sad story this would be.

Percy Jackson had killed this thing within 24 hours of discovering he was a demigod, with next to no training or experience. And Jason was dangerously close to dying to it after someone or something else had used it as a chew toy and thrown it out of a building.

Jason grit his teeth as he forced himself to roll over, placing his hands underneath himself and exploding to his feet in one clean motion. Looking to his left as he watched the Minotaur step through the ruined remains of the wall. Breathing heavily, its chest piece had a large hole melted in the front of it, and the creature's shoulder and arm were badly scarred and burned. Most of its hair had been burned away and its skin still steamed, but the Minotaur's eyes were focused, and the glare he had leveled at Jason promised death.

However, Jason himself leveled and equally deadly stared at the Minotaur, the pain in his arms and back where he had impacted the wall had been reduced to a dull ache as the lights in the apartment flickered before they suddenly went out.

Lighting arcing off his skin as his eyes glowed with power Jason pointed his sword at the Minotaur and charged forwards, his voice raised in a scream as he thrust ahead with his gladius.

The minotaur bellowed out and swung his fist wildly, a blow which Jason simply stepped underneath as he struck the monsters chest piece with his gladius, sending sparks flying as the Minotaur stumbled backwards, the force of the blow actually knocking it off balance as Jason leapt forwards, slashing out as he gripped the sword with both hands.

A slight tug on his blade was all the clarification he needed, the Minotaur's scream of pain was just a bonus. Jason landed and spun around to face the monster once more, looking at it as it clutched its left arm, or what remained of it.

Jason had chopped the arm off just above the elbow, leaving the Minotaur gaping at him in shock as its blood poured from the stump of its left arm. Without a second's hesitation Jason ran to the monsters side, a quick stab from his Gladius tore clean through the monster's thigh, eliciting another bellow of pain as the monster dropped to one knee, its leg giving out as the Imperial Gold ate away at its essence like acid.

The monster slowly started to dissolve as it roared out in anger, reaching out with one hand, as if to grab and strangle the life out of Jason.

Jason replied by calling on his fathers powers and swinging out with his sword, slamming the flat of the blade off the monster's chest as a blast of wind roared out from behind him. Throwing the Minotaur clean through the wall and out of the apartment. Sending him flying across the street to slam off the apartment building across the street

With a snarl of frustration Jason called on his fathers powers, dropping a bolt of lightning from the sky to smash into the Minotaur's' already dissolving corpse. Blasting the thing to dust as Jason shook his head wearily.

The whole room was filled with dust, and the lights had blown out in the room if not the entire floor. Which isn't a big deal, not like they were staying here, but he didn't like the fact that he had done so much damage to the building.

How the mist was going to explain this away he had absolutely no idea.

Jason started to limp down the hallway back towards the Stairwell so he could rejoin Annabeth and Piper. He wanted out of this damned building and away from the city, Jason was pretty sure he had more than a few broken ribs. He had to give it to the giant cow, it could throw a punch.

As Jason stumbled down the dust filled hallway he almost didn't see the man standing in front of him, right on the landing of the stairwell as he looked upwards. Jason walked right into him, bouncing off the giant of a man like he was a wall.

"Careful there, walking around without looking where you're going in a place like this could be dangerous" a strange accent rang out as a large hand grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him from falling over.

Jason looked at the man, clad in a gray three piece suit, his meticulously cropped black hair, without a single strand out of place. His blue eyes flashed dangerously as he lifted Jason up and set him on his feet. Carefully brushing some dust and debris from his clothes.

"Wha… who are you? Wait, it doesn't matter you can't be in here! This building is going to collapse!" Jason shouted in confusion, desperately trying to figure out how the mist was going to hide everything from the man.

However, unlike most mortals who might have laughed at his outburst, or ignored him. The man simply raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Yes, you made quite the mess didn't you? '' the older man said as he gestured to the wreckage around him. "To think that she would hide somewhere so mortal. It's no wonder I never found her." The man mused as he inspected the crumbling walls, the whole building groaning about them dangerously close to collapse.

Jason was confused for sure, this guy seemed crazy, he was talking to himself like Jason wasn't even there, and what's worse. The offhand comment about Jason making a mess seemed to reference that the man knew or had watched Jason destroy most of this level during his fight with the Minotaur.

It was when Jason looked at him in closer detail that he noticed the strange tingling sensation in the air. Nervously flexing his grip around the hilt of his Gladius, Jason looked at the older man. "Who are you?" Jason demanded.

The man turned in his direction and smiled at him ever so slightly before he replied, "Aren't you a curious little demigod?" The man replied with a smile, but it wasn't a pleasant one. In fact it looked more like he was regarding Jason as some sort of pest than anything else. "But that is the question isn't it?"

"Alright see, its acting like that, doing shit like that which is going to convince me you're a bad fucking guy…" Jason said as he drew his gladius and pointed it at the man.

"How can you see through the mist and why are you here?" Jason demanded as he jabbed the sword in the man's direction.

"And don't lie, because I've had a particularly bad day and I'm about three seconds away from attacking first and asking questions later." Jason snarled angrily as he looked at the man.

The man looked at him before laughing, a deep echoing belly laughed that filled the ruined hallway as the sound bounced back at him almost mockingly. "Your kind have always been as arrogant and proud as the Gods that spawned you. Not that it's ever mattered to me before, I have filled lakes with the blood of your kind little demigod, you'll be one more corpse in the ground soon enough" He replied casually as a sudden surge of power washed over Jason.

The man's aura was terrifying, like a black miasma, the aura washed over him, robbing Jason of the energy to even lift his sword. Jason breath was caught in his throat as raw terror bubbled in his chest. The worst part?

The guy hadn't even moved. Jason thought angrily, He was Jason Grace. He had fought titans, giants and every other monster the Roman world had to throw at him. And here he stood, rooted to the spot by some guy in a suit. Too scared to even move let alone swing his weapon.

Well fuck that he thought.

Breaking free of the trance he had been in with a burst of anger Jason surged forwards, swinging his sword with all his might at the well dressed man.

However the sword was snagged mid strike, as Jason looked up to see the man had reached out, quick as lighting and grabbed his wrist within his own Iron grip. Almost instantly crushing Jason's wrist, so tightly in fact, that Jason was forced to drop the gladius. Which clattered to the ground loudly.

"Truly is that all you can muster, demigod?" The man asked with a raised eyebrow as he lifted his free hand, and backhanded Jason. Sending him soaring backwards down the hallway to slam into the wall, sending up a massive cloud of dust and debris on impact.

Jason hit the wall as blood exploded from his mouth, pieces of plaster and drywall raining to the ground around him as his whole body screamed in protest. He could feel the shuddering in his chest as the broken bones in his ribs grinded against each other.

Jason's vision was swimming with black spots as he spat a tooth out and looked down the hallway, at the man who was looking at Jason's blade curiously, holding the golden gladius in one hand as he inspected its edge.

"It's a fine blade, wasted on someone as 'talented' as you… but it's not surprising, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." The man's eyes flashed dangerously as he threw the sword down the hallway towards Jason. "I've yet to meet a God spawn who was anything more than a disappointment, care to put that to the test?" The man finished as he flashed a feral grin in Jason's direction.

"Fuck you" Jason coughed out as he grabbed his gladius and struggled to his feet.

"Tsk tsk, language child." The man replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Oh for the love hades, SHUT UP!" Jason shouted as he leveled his sword in the man's direction, the air instantly taking on the smell of ozone as arcs of electricity leapt off Jason's body. "I'm a disappointment, huh? Alright, try this on for size!" Jason shouted as he thrust his blade forwards, sending a bolt of lighting ripping down the hallway towards the man.

The flash almost blinded Jason, Almost.

Unfortunately he was fully witness to the man simply waving his hand, like he was going to brush off a fly. Except, instead of a fly, it was a bolt of lighting which he sent smashing through several apartment walls.

However, almost the second the bolt of lighting left his sword, Jason felt the man's aura intensify, the temperature in the room dropping almost instantly as the mocking grin vanished from the man's face.

"Interesting, but after that display I have some questions for you little 'demigod'" came the voice of the man dripping malice as he seemed to almost teleport forwards, suddenly appearing in front of Jason.

Jason reacted by lashing out with one of his fists, hoping to perhaps drive the man back and buy him some time to come up with a plan. However, the old man was fast, impossibly fast.

Almost before he realized what was happening, Jason was flying through the air, the man having grabbed his fist as well as his shirt and thrown him down the hallway, clean over one shoulder the second Jason had thrown the punch.

He bounced off the floor and rolled to a stop near the stairwell as he groaned in pain. Everything hurt, and he knew that if he didn't find a way to put this guy down soon. He was going to beat Jason to death with his bare hands. Jason had taken a blow from a cyclops with a club, admittedly it had knocked him unconscious. But he highly doubted he would survive a hit from this man if he wanted him dead, especially after that display.

However Jason was snapped from his thoughts as he heard the gentle click clack of the man's black dress shoes as he walked down the hallway.

".. what is your name boy…" The older man said as he stopped some ten feet from Jason, regarding him with a cruel glare as he watched and waited.

"Oh go fuc-GAHHHHHH!" Jason screamed in pain as the man once again seemed to move forwards in an instant and slammed his heel down on top of Jason's hand, shattering the bones like twigs as Jason screamed out in pain.

"Interesting that didn't sound like a name, but perhaps I'll ask again." The man said as he removed his foot from Jason's hand, his bright blue eyes glowing with power as he looked down on him. "Now where were we? Oh yes, your name… what is it?" The man asked as he drove his foot into Jason's already bruised and battered ribs, accentuating his question as Jason screamed in pain.

"F-fuck you" Jason gasped out, his body felt like someone had beaten him with a heavy bag of bricks. Jason's mind was racing as he tried to think of a way out of this situation, this guy was faster, stronger and clearly more experienced than him.

Not to mention Jason had no idea who or what this dude was, but he clearly wasn't your average mortal. Jason struggled onto all fours, his vision swimming as he retched onto the floor.

"I'm growing tired of this boy…. I tried to do this the nice way, but instead I'll do it the quick way." The man said as he took a few steps back from Jason. "Inquarim Dorak" the man said in a harsh grating language.

In an instant Jason's entire world was wiped away by the all consuming pain in his head, it felt like someone or something was actively drilling into his skull and brain while he was conscious. It was agony on a scale Jason had not thought possible. He couldn't even think clearly, let alone move.

So unfortunately when the man walked up in front of Jason and looked him dead in the eyes, all he was able to do was sit there, his mouth wide open in a frozen scream as he lacked the strength in his body, or the willpower to do anything.

As quick as a viper he reached out and grabbed Jason around the neck, lifting him clear off the ground with one arm. The older man didn't even look fazed as he held Jason aloft, if anything he looked bored.

"I can make this worse….. Much worse. Struggle all you want, I'll get what I want from you in the end." The man said with a smile, grinning all the wider as Jason felt the pressure in his skull increase. If it got any worse Jason was pretty sure his skull was going to actually crack in half.

Jason looked the man in the face before spitting a wad of phlegm and blood onto his cheek. "W-who.. The fuck…. A-are you…?" Jason all but groaned out as he tried to keep his eyes focused, blood dripping from where his nails had gouged his palms as he had clenched his hands in pain.

The man's eyebrow twitched in irritation as Jason grinned lopsidedly. However that grin was quickly replaced by a look of agony as the man casually tossed him through a wall. The explosion of plaster and bits of drywall filled the living room of the already ruined apartment as Jason slammed into the couch with his side.

He felt something snap as he flipped over the side and slammed off the ground, right on top of the already crushed television. A series of coughs racked his chest as blood dripped free from his lips.

"Your manners are awful, it's almost as if your father wasn't present to teach you a little respect" The man said angrily as he waved a hand and the wall repaired itself behind him as he walked through. "Allow me to step in and offer the lesson free of charge."

Then the man held his hand out in front of him and slowly closed his fist as the pressure of his aura increased. At the same time the pain in Jason's head was too much, tears started to stream down his face as he wailed in pain. His hands clutching at the sides of his head in pain as he flailed about on the ground.

It felt like someone was driving burning metal rods into every inch of his body all at once, and that was on top of the pain in his head. "NOW TELL ME BOY, WHAT IS YOUR NAME!?" the voice of the older man rang out, this time it wasn't asking, this time it demanded the answer from him and he could feel the magical compulsion forcing him to speak.

"It's JASON, JASON GRACE! GAHH!" he screamed in pain as he rolled onto his back, clutching at his broken ribs with one hand and his head with the other as tears streamed down his face.

"See now, was that so hard?" The man asked with a casual air about him as he grinned, looking down on Jason as he lay on the floor. The pain went in an instant as the cruel look in the man's eyes was replaced by one of mirth.

"So Jason, you're a son of Zeus or is it Jupiter? You don't smell like a northman and the lightning gives away the birth parentage. I dislike demigods, and I hate most of the Olympians… but your father? I Loathe Zeus with every fiber of my being". The man said as his aura surged to life around him, the darkness and cold seemed to swallow everything in an instant.

"Now I understand completely why you were foolish enough to attack me, he was always too proud. But what has me more curious is why you were even here in the first place. Sallira hid herself from me for eighteen years, yet the day I finally found her I also discovered the place to be filled with demigods…. I don't believe in random chance. So why are you here!?" The man demanded as he glared down at Jason.

"W-we came to check o-on Sa-Sally Jackson, I-it was Annabeth's I-Idea. I don't know who y-you're talking a-about." Jason spat out along with a healthy portion of blood as he struggled to get air into his lungs which were not working properly, he was pretty sure one or more of his ribs had punctured them, and he knew he needed medical attention soon.

"That's all?" The man said in surprise.

"W-why e-else would we c-come here" Jason groaned out as he tried to crawl away from the man, who appeared as perfectly spotless as he did when Jason had first run into him.

"I had assumed your Gods had finally come to suspect her…. But apparently Occam's razor doesn't apply here…." The man mused almost thoughtfully as he seemed to be ignoring Jason. Instead turning to look out the window of the Apartment, looking out onto the City of New York.

That was when Jason noticed the glint of his gladius, laying a few feet away from him just past the edge of the couch. He must have lost his grip on it when he flew into the room he thought.

Jason could hear the man talking in the background as he dragged himself towards the sword. He was a son of Jupiter. He wasn't going to die on his back on the ground, he was going to fight even if it killed him.

"It's really quite remarkable that you would still try to fight… but if that's your desire then by all means demigod. Fetch your blade, and remember, this isn't personal. Simply an eye for an eye between old friends, courtesy of your father." The man said as Jason could feel his eyes burning into the small of his back.

It felt like Jason was dragging himself across a bed of broken glass and nails as he finally reached the sword and grabbed the hilt desperately. Using a combination of the sword, and his limbs he managed to stumble to his feet.

Spinning around and facing the man Jason struggled to focus as his vision was slightly hazy from pain. "I don't.. Know who the fuck…. You think you are…. But when the gods find out about this…-" Jason panted as he slowly leveled his sword in the man's direction.

"When your father finds out about this it will be far too late to stop what I've set into motion." The man replied casually. "When my vengeance is complete your kind, and the Gods will know what it is to know fear. Soon he will be ready and I will be the least of you and your God's worries." The man said as he grinned evilly.

"Whatever it is you have planned, someone is going to stop you, if it's not me then another Demigod, or the Gods themselves. You won't win!" Jason cried out as he rushed forwards, thrusting ahead with his gladius as the man stood there not moving an inch.

Almost with agonizing slowness the gladius pieced his stomach and Jason looked at his face in horror as the man simply grinned at him. "Interesting that you think one of your kind is capable of ending my existence." The man replied with a grin as he reached down and ever so casually gripped Jason's wrist, pulling the sword out inch by inch as he locked eyes with Jason.

"Greater men than you have tried and failed to kill me, and you have proven that you lack both the ability and resolve to end me. However, worry not little demigod, I have come to the conclusion that you aren't worthy of a death by my hand. Instead you shall be my messenger." The man said as he waved his hand over the wound on his stomach, muttering something in a strange language as he did so.

Jason watched in horrid fascination as the man's skin seemed to almost bulge and stretch around the wound, a strange glow emanating from where the blade had pierced his stomach. It was slow at first, but the steady stream of red and silver blood began to diminish to a trickle before it stopped altogether, the entire process taking less than ten seconds.

Jason felt his wrist break as the man jerked his arm to the side, forcing him to drop his golden blade to the ground with a clang. Before he casually released his hold on Jason's arm, like a marionette with its strings cut, Jason would have collapsed if not for the couch that was beside him. He had grabbed at it in desperation, if he was going to die by the gods it would be on his feet.

Jason wanted to reply, but he was pretty sure his jaw was broken and he could barely open it let alone try to think clearly through the blinding pain his entire body was experiencing.

"However, I can't have you blabbering about this too soon, after all. I can't have you spoil the surprise for the rest of your little family. So let's put you out of commission for a little while shall we? Ibrix" The man said with deathly seriousness as the air around him warped and flexed before it seemed to rush at Jason.

Jason threw his hands out in front of himself, sensing the incoming attack even if he couldn't see it.

Then there was blood everywhere, his blood.

Jason flew backwards and slammed off the wall, as blood practically exploded from dozens of cuts which appeared suddenly all over his entire body. Jason's vision was a small point of light surrounded by darkness and his limbs felt like lead weights dragging him to the ground.

With a dull thud Jason collapsed face first onto the ground, his body so bruised and battered he couldn't move a muscle.

Whatever had hit him, ripped apart his clothing as if he had been cut by dozens of blades all at once. The pain was unbearable and quickly Jason felt his consciousness slipping away as the man walked towards him.

"I believe this is where you ponder the decisions that brought you here little demigod. I do believe my daughter will be glad I left you alive, if only just." the man said as he couched on the balls of his feet beside Jason. "Next time when we meet, if there is a next time you can look back on this fondly and remember that your kind aren't a match for me and mine" The man finished as his eyes crackled with power.

He grabbed Jason's hair with one hand, yanking his head nearly a foot off the floor before he smashed Jason's face off the floor with devastating force and the pitch black comfort of unconsciousness finally took him.

Piper 3 Days 14 Hours and 45 Minutes After Eripus

Piper wasn't sure how to react, Sally had just attacked this stranger and rescued Jason, only for it to be revealed that the man was her father. Piper was just staring between the two with her mouth wide open. "So Sally if he's your father then…"

"Yes child, I'm glad to see your mothers powers have not dulled your wits at all, I Am Sallira's father, so her Ardwyrian blood comes from me before you further prove your idiocy by asking about it" The man said offhandedly, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

Piper looked at him fearfully as he grinned in her direction. Piper felt like she was sitting in a cage with a wild animal, a very intelligent and highly dangerous wild animal. However the man seemed to have barely any interest in Annabeth or Piper, instead all his attention was focused on Sally, and the child that Annabeth clutched in her arms.

"Sallira, it doesn't have to be like this. I let you have your peace with Perseus, away from all of this. It has been too long since you walked the halls of our home, instead you have surrounded yourself with these filthy offspring of the gods… it's unbecoming for a daughter of mine to lower herself to such an extent …" The man grimaced as he looked at Sally.

"Perhaps I prefer their company to that of a bloodthirsty lunatic…" Sally responded fiercely.

"You didn't always think like that daughter" The man said, as a look of genuine pain crossed his features.

"I'm not a naïve child anymore, I wont blindly follow you, not after what you did to my son….." Sally said as she looked at the man, her eyes glowing with fury.

" I don't want to force you to come with me, Sallira, you are my daughter and I love you. But I can't allow you to get in the way of my plans again. I indulged your decision to raise Perseus away from me, even to hide yourself from the rest of your family." The man said as his expression slowly hardened.

"His name is Percy." Annabeth said from beside Piper, her voice only cracking slightly at the end as she maintained a fierce glare, holding Estelle with one arm and her dagger with the other.

"I don't remember asking you to open your mouth, just be glad I haven't ripped your arms off for laying your filthy hands on my granddaughter. Perhaps if you had kept your mouth shut you would have enjoyed a slightly longer life…" The man said in an almost offhand manner as he lifted his hand and pointed his index finger at Annabeth. Opening his mouth as he uttered a single word, in that harsh language Sally had been speaking earlier.

"Lyras" echoed in the air if only for an instant before a second voice rang out.

"Indra" Sally screamed out as she pointed her free hand at Annabeth, a blast of what could only be described as blue fire streamed out of Sally's hand, taking the form of a serpent as it coiled around Annabeth, and instant before the entire room seemed to contort and warp in place. Then the air became incredibly dense and a dull roar could be heard as a roar of black flames erupted around Annabeth.

The two fires seemed to be battling around the entrapped demigod as both Sally and her Father stared at the fire with intense concentration. Then Sally seemed to explode as an aura of blue light surged out around her. Followed quickly by the blue fire overwhelming the black and reforming into a serpent that launched itself towards her father.

For a moment he was engulfed in a roaring pillar of blue flame before a sudden hissing sound could be heard and the flames guttered and died, revealing the still unblemished figure of Sally's father.

Piper rushed over to check on Annabeth, who was standing there stunned. The burns on her arms and legs were relatively minor and Piper rushed to check Estelle only to see in surprise that the girl was completely unscathed.

"I see you haven't gotten rusty in your time away, Sallira…" The man said with a grin as he looked at Sally.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!? Piper screamed as she whirled around to look at the man. "Your granddaughter was in her arms, are you insane!?"

"Piper be quiet…" Sally said calmly as she looked at her father, never once breaking eye contact as the two stood rooted to the spot.

That's when Piper noticed that something was off, Sally was visibly sweating and trembling while her Father was grinning, his eyes glowing with power, but he too was sweating.

That's when Piper noticed what was going on around them, the air was literally pulsing with power as bits and pieces of rubble and furniture began to float into the air. "Well done Sallira….. I've mis…. Missed these little practice sessions of ours all… these long years…" Sally's father grunted out almost in pain. Then Sally slashed at the air with her hand in a claw-like gesture, as a blast of air roared around the room and with a bang like a cannon going off sparks of energy exploded into existence between Sally and her father.

Her father stumbled backwards, a look of shock and pride crossing his face for an instant before he resumed that nonchalant expression he had worn since he had entered the room. His shoulder was scorched, the suit sleeve ruined and the skin underneath blackened and charred.

Ever so casually he reached up and tore the remains of the ruined sleeve off, revealing an arm packed with muscle and covered in strange runic Tattoos and scars. "Very well, Sallira. Ill allow the demigods a few more moments to spend among the living."

"You aren't' 'letting' me do anything Father, Not anymore. I won't let you harm those children, they have nothing to do with this father. I disobeyed you when I ran, and you failed to find me for eighteen years because I never once let down my guard.… If it hadn't been for the Minotaur attacking us and those monsters, then none of this…." Sally started to say as a look of horror crossed her face, her eyes filled with pain as she looked at her father.

"You left me little choice daughter, Your spell hid you from me, I needed you to use your powers." he said sadly as he looked out the window, his hands clasped behind his back.

"... Paul had nothing to do with this…" Sally said as tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

"Quite the contrary Sallira, he helped to bring my granddaughter into this world, so I would say he is just as much a part of this as you are." He finished with a sad smile, "If it meant I could finally bypass those wards you cast then it was worth the pain his loss has no doubt caused you."

He strode across the room to stand directly in front of Sally, whose sword was pointing towards the ground as she closed her eyes tight in pain. "You think I'm a monster, and perhaps I am. But I am only what the Gods made me, and anything I have done has been too ensure the safety of my people and my family"

Sally was frozen to the spot, her body shaking but if it was with rage or fear Piper couldn't tell. However, Sally visibly flinched when he laid his hand on her shoulder. "We can finally be a family again… you can come home and raise your daughter like a proud Ardwyr. Instead of hiding in fear within this putrid apartment, pretending to be a 'human'" the man said as he almost spat out the final word.

"How can you claim to love her, to be her family? You just admitted to killing her husband!" Piper shouted angrily as she stared at the man, wishing her mother had given her some sort of death stare power.

"Don't speak to me of love, child…. Neither you nor your mother have a concept of what love really is. I have sacrificed more for my family than nearly any other….. You cannot begin to understand the loss I have suffered for them." The man snarled out in reply.

"So what? That gives you the right to murder anyone you want!? And you just expect her to do what you tell her to do!?" Piper shouted out in response.

"You talk as if your own mother didn't indirectly murder thousands over the most superficial of arguments? Do not act as if my actions are that different from those of the Gods you so valiantly protect." The man said with a sneer.

"So you're justifying endangering Sally and your granddaughter by sending monsters to kill them. Because the Gods have done the same?" Annabeth asked angrily. "You attacked us while I was holding her, what if you had hurt her!?"

The man laughed loudly, his voice harsh against the quiet in the room. "As if to suggest I would put my own flesh and blood in harm's way… I would have burned your essence to ash and my Granddaughter would have been fine. If not for Sallira's intervention to save you two we wouldn't be having this conversation." he said darkly as he glared at the two of them.

Piper and Annabeth looked at each other as the color paled from their faces, finally understanding what had been happening just moments previously, and how close they had come to death.

"You're insane… you could have either of them, maybe both" Annabeth said in horror as she looked at the man.

"Sallira is more than capable of protecting herself and those around her. If anything it was her stubborn choice not to use her powers until the last moment that led to the mortals death." The man said as he turned to level a glare at Annabeth. "You may choose to believe that this is the result I wanted, but I can assure you I had no desire to see Paul die."

The man turned around and walked towards the window, ever so casually looking outside as the rain hammered the building, almost drowning out the dozens of sirens all approaching the apartment.

Piper slowly drew Katoptris as she watched the man turn his back on them, he was completely at ease which grated on Piper. It's like he didn't even consider them a threat, but then again Jason was half dead at her feet and he was a much better fighter than she was.

She had already checked his pulse, and he was alive. If only barely. But that didn't make Piper and Annabeth's situation any better. They were still trapped on the ninth floor with a homicidal and incredibly powerful maniac.

Sally's father let out a deep sigh.

"So Sallira, how about we head home. I'll even allow these demigods to live once they return my Granddaughter to me. Call it a show of good faith, I have no wish to take anyone else from you today." He said calmly before he turned back around and fixed Sally with a glare that made Piper's blood run cold.

"But don't think for a second that I wont kill everyone within a two block radius, Sallira. Our people have waited too long for their vengeance, I won't let a few Demigods and humans stand in the way of that" He finished, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Sally was still frozen staring at the ground as her sword arm twitched nervously.

"She deserves a better grandfather…" Sally said almost too quietly for Piper to hear.

However Piper heard it, and so did the man.

He had appeared calm before, but the rage that seemed to roll off of him in waves hung in the air the instant Sally spoke.

"Careful Sallira, you're my daughter but even that courtesy extends only so far." He said with narrowed eyes as he looked at his daughter.

"You ruined my life, you ruined Percy's life…. I tried to hide him from you and failed, because of that he's in Tartarus! And don't try to deny that you planned this!" Sally screamed in rage as a blue light filled the room.

"I won't insult your intelligence by denying that, but you were the one to seal his powers Sallira. Against my advice, just like when you ran away and hid yourself from me. Perseus was too important to my plan for me to let you coddle him forever." Her father replied with a soft smile.

"Now perhaps you cant stop this idiotic rebellious phase and we can talk like adults, there is much your daughter can learn from me and you know this. There is still much I can teach you if only you let me Sallira…."

I WON'T LET YOU LAY A FINGER ON MY DAUGHTER!" Sally roared in anger as she leveled her sword "I cant save Percy from you, but I can save her" Sally said with righteous fervor as she practically launched herself at her father.

Sally seemed to vanish from the spot as Piper's jaw dropped in surprise. Sally's father looked around the room, his eyes narrowed into a fierce glare as the ground around him started to pulse with a strange black aura.

When Sally simply appeared beside her father, the blade extended. Only to be met by an equally deadly looking blade which had suddenly appeared in the man's hand. The following exchange of swordplay left Piper shocked. The blades were almost invisible with the speed they were whipping around the fighters.

If not for the blue glow that surrounded Sally's sword and the black flames which clung to her fathers Piper was pretty sure she wouldn't have seen anything at all. That didn't mean she couldn't feel the fight, quite literally in blasts of power that rolled off the two figures every time their swords clashed made it feel like she was inside some sort of car crash simulator.

Sally was like some sort of devilish whirlwind of sword strikes, the sound of metal grating on metal and sparks flying through the air filled the room.

However, Piper had figured out where Percy got his talent for swordsmanship from. If it was possible to inherit them that was. If he was related to these two then it made sense he was the best in his generation Piper thought as she watched the sword fight in awe.

Sally launched into a combination, the sword flowing around her like water as she swiped at her fathers chest. Forcing him backwards away from her. Then Sally extended her hand in front of her, palm facing her father as his eyes widened in shock for an instant.

"Obrix!" Sally shouted out as Piper's ears depressurized with a painful pop.

Then a roaring sound filled the room as something collided with the black aura of Sally's father. For a second it looked like nothing was happening, and then he was launched backwards out of the room with a series of bangs as he crashed through walls and ended up somewhere in the kitchen.

Immediately Sally turned and looked at Annabeth. "The path forward is in Denver, and everything you need, you have." Sally finished saying as she gestured to the book and amulet.

"What the hell does that mean!? Annabeth asked quickly.

However before Sally could reply an explosion was heard from maybe fifty feet away, a cloud of dust firing out of the hallway as a voice echoed around them, malevolent and angry.

"Sallira…. That was unwise" the voice rang out around them as Piper's blood ran cold.

For a moment no one moved, Piper barely breathed as she backed almost unconsciously away from the entrance to the room. Then he walked out of the cloud of dust, his once fine suit was in tatters as his eyes glowed with power.

His face was twisted into a snarl of anger as he looked at Sally.

"This is your last warning Sallira, I love you daughter. But if you choose to cross blades with me again I won't let that stop me from doing what needs to be done. This plan was set in motion after millennia of waiting and planning, I want you to be by my side when it's over. But if the fates decide that it must end here, so be it." He finished darkly as he held his hand out, the jagged looking sword he had summoned earlier flying back to his hand in an instant.

"I won't let you ruin my daughter's life, father. If you want her it'll be over my dead body." Sally replied fiercely as she stepped to stand in front of Piper and Annabeth. Sally's father glared at the three of them for a moment before he closed his eyes. For a brief moment he looked the part of the exhausted father, tired and saddened as he hung his head.

However it was only for an instant.

When he reopened his eyes, all traces of his previous self were gone. His look promised death as he slowly spun his sword over in one hand. "Very well Sallira, perhaps I gave you too much free reign. A problem I intend to correct immediately. As soon as those demigods are dead, you and I are going to have a conversation, I doubt it will be pleasant." He finished calmly as he exploded into motion.

Piper barely had time to register that he was moving towards her, his sword extended as a scream ripped itself free of her throat. Piper threw herself backwards frantically as the bell-like ringing of metal on metal sounded out.

Piper opened her eyes in shock to see what appeared to be Sally and her father, wreathed in blue and black flames as they struggled in place. Their swords threw sparks as both tried to throw the other backwards.

A hand grabbed Piper by the collar of her shirt and yanked her backwards just in time, as Sally was forced to duck under a second swipe from her father, a dagger appearing in his free hand as he thrust it towards Sally's head.

Piper collapsed backwards into Annabeth, the edge of the dagger having drawn a shallow gash on her cheek which burned like someone had lit her face on fire.

The instant sally ducked, he reversed his direction and spun on the spot, driving the heel of his shoe into her chest as she was hurtled away from him and into the wall.

Piper stumbled backwards just as his sword flashed in front of her face, slicing cleanly into the wall for nearly four feet before it slammed to a stop and Sally's father ripped it clear of the wall with a slight grunt of frustration.

"I would advise you to hand over my granddaughter now… perhaps I'll consider being merciful when I kill you. But if you insist on making me work for this I assure you I'll put the two of you through more pain than that Jason boy could ever hope to endure…" The man said casually as he held his free hand out for the child.

Piper looked at Jason's limp body, and a rage unlike anything she had ever felt filled her chest. "How about you jump out of the building instead?" Piper said loudly as her voice rang thick with charm speak.

For a moment Sally's fathers eyes glazed over, and he almost seemed to lose focus. But then almost as fast as it happened he was back. A sneer present on his face as he looked at Piper. "I'll give it to you daughter of Aphrodite, you are stronger than most of your siblings, but allow me to show you what real power looks and feels like." He said with a smile as he looked at Piper, and then he spoke:

"Kneel"

Piper slammed into the ground with her knees, almost as if this was the most important thing she had ever done. Only to realize what was happening seconds later as she stared up at Sally's father in shock. No one had ever commanded her to do something so easily before, she had resisted and Drew and Circe's charm speak with difficulty but she had done it.

This was on another level Piper thought frantically as she looked at Annabeth. Whose eyes were clouded as she kneeled on the ground, her arms limp and barely holding Sally's child in her lap.

Every muscle in Piper's body was straining against the enchantment as Sally's father took two short steps and stopped. Standing directly in front of Annabeth and Piper as he lowered his sword to rest on Piper's shoulder. The cold steel drawing a small bead of blood as the edge of the blade touched the soft skin of her throat. "Do you understand now how outclassed you are? You don't have a hope of defeating me, not as you are now. So, any last words?" He said with a smirk as the pressure of the blade against her neck grew. Annabeth at her side didn't even seem to notice what was going on.

Piper closed her eyes, preparing for the death she had been expecting ever since she had learned she was a demigod. Jason was half dead, Sally wasn't a match for her father, not while she was protecting them at least. This was going to be how she died, she thought miserably.

She felt the pressure of the blade leave her neck as Sally's father hefted the sword into the air as if it weighed nothing. Sending it whistling through the air as he brought it back down, a blow meant to kill piper.

However the sudden crash of metal on metal rang out as a small splash of blood splattered across Piper's face. She waited for the pain, the agony and the eventual death that would follow, but that didn't come.

Instead when Piper opened her eyes she saw Sally, barely standing as she held a sword and dagger together in an x shape. The floor beneath her had cracked under the impact as it groaned dangerously under the pressure her father was exerting.

Sally's clothes were dirty and torn, and several bloodstains which were clearly her own now darkened her silver and black robe. However she held her weapons at the ready as she stared at her father.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear father, your fight is with me not these demigods." Sally said darkly as she exploded into motion.

Spinning in a small circle as she extended her leg, forcing her father to leap backwards away from her. Then she rushed forwards, her blades glowing with blue light as each clash of the weapons let loose a blast of power.

Piper scrambled towards Annabeth, fighting off the compulsion that Sally's father had placed on her as she grabbed the demigod by her shoulders and shook her fiercely. "ANNABETH! WAKE UP!" Piper screamed into her friend's face frantically.

Looking over her shoulder at Sally and her father fighting was a mistake Piper noted mentally, as she was drawn into the fight only by the insane level of skill the two Ardwyr were demonstrating.

A series of hammerlike blows from Sally were avoided with ease by her father as he threw one hand out behind him and the wall exploded into dozens of pieces of rubble as the whole building shook and trembled.

Then he looked at them as his eyes glowed white for a moment and he thrust his hand forwards, sending the debris hurtling towards the three of them at insane speeds.

Sally's blades were a blur as she slashed at anything that came within reach of her, all the while her voice rang out laden with power as a blue wall of light sprung into life around Piper and Annabeth.

The pieces of rubble exploded into dust on contact as the shield flared with blue light. Filling the whole room with a strange bluish smokescreen.

However that didn't last long as Sally and her father crashed back together, magical energy arcing off the pair of them and gouging trenches in the already ruined floor as the father and daughter strained against each other. Their blades whipping about in a frenzy as the crashing of metal on metal rang out time and time again.

The collision of the two warriors blasted the room clear of dust as the blue shield around them fizzled out, exposing Piper to the harsh metallic tasting air as she grabbed hold of Annabeth and slapped her as hard in the face as she could. "WAKE UP!" Piper growled out, her voice laden with charmspeak as Annabeths eyes regained some clarity.

"Ughhh.." Annabeth groaned as she suddenly pressed one of her hands to her temple, her eyes were bloodshot as she looked at Piper in confusion. Then almost all at once she seemed to remember where they were and how much danger they were in as her eyes flew wide.

"KARAS INDAR!" Sally's voice rang out as she pointed both of her weapons at her father, a series of explosions rang out around the room as a surge of blue light rushed towards Sallys father. The harsh blue light enveloping him completely for an instant before its aura shattered apart.

Revealing Sally's father standing there, his clothes steaming as his face was contorted into a look of fury. "ENOUGH!" he roared as his aura surged out around him, a roar like some ancient beast filling the air around them as the building finally gave way to the damage it had sustained under the intense barrage of magic.

The walls began to crack and shatter of their own accord as the whole building began to tilt to one side.

"I have entertained this little outburst long enough Sallira, you know you can't beat me. And those demigods won't be able to stop me either. You were never stupid daughter, even you can see there is no hope for victory here." He added as he casually sliced through Percy's bed as it slid across the room towards him.

Piper was panicking, the floor was rapidly approaching thirty degrees and soon enough everything in this room was going to slide across the floor and out into open air.

Nine stories up, in the middle of New York city.

Piper was pretty sure that she would do about as well as any of the other furniture would when she hit the sidewalk. Which is why both she and Annabeth were scrambling frantically as they tried to both prevent themselves and Jason's unconscious body from sliding off the edge.

"Piper, we need to get out of here now!" Annabeth shouted at her as they both ducked reflexively, covering their heads as another surge of power from the two Ardwyr surged outwards. Turning much of the furniture in the room into kindling as Sally's father was destroying anything that came within his reach. Be it with his sword, or the powers he was wielding with deadly efficiency.

However as Piper was watching, Sally exploded into movement once more. Her sword made a large arcing swing towards her fathers head as she flipped overtop of the thrust of his blade.

Sally's arm extended, her dagger held backwards against her wrist as her father tried to bring his sword back up to cover his face, a howl of pain ringing out as Sally reflected his blade back down with her dagger. Her sword finished its swing and carving deep into his chest as her father stumbled backwards.

His blood was spotted with streaks of silver as it ran freely down his chest and dripped to the floor at his feet as he stared at Sallira in shock. However almost instantly his aura surged around him as he looked at Sally.

"You would really pick these demigods over your own flesh and blood?" He asked haltingly as he held his sword by his side in one hand. His other hand clutched at the wound on his chest.

"I don't choose them over family, they are family… just as much as my son or daughter. And I won't let you hurt them, I'm done running away father." Sally replied

The silence that greeted that remark was deafening as Sally's father almost seemed to suck in all the light in the room, his skin steaming as he glared at Sally.

"Be ready to run, I won't be able to stop what he does next but I can slow him down long enough for you to escape." Sally's voice rang out clearly in Piper's head.

"Those two demigods are going to suffer torment beyond imagining for this Sallira… to turn my own daughter against me, again…. I swear by those who have long passed that I will make them and their God's beg for death before I'm finished with them. He snarled as the air around him seemed to flex and warp.

Except unlike every other time he had used his powers it didn't stop, it just continued to spread out around him like some sort of visual distortion. Piper looked back and forth between Sally and her father as the pressure in the air continued to increase. The floor around him shattering and flying apart almost in slow motion as the aura of darkness surged to life around him. Blotting out everything as he seemed to swell and fill all of Piper's vision.

"Be glad demigods, you are going to receive a send off worthy of the Gods themselves" Sally's father snarled as his sword vanished from his hands.

"Be ready, he's about to unleash the first word, I don't have the power to dispel it. All I can do is keep the two of you and Estelle safe. When he attacks me you need to jump, all of you. I'll make sure you end up somewhere safe" Sally's voice rang out clearly in Piper's head.

Piper watched in interest as Sally's father opened his mouth to speak, she even saw his lips move. But she heard nothing, it was almost as if he had been censored as a dull white noise filled Piper's ears. Drowning out everything else as suddenly the air around her took on a grayscale appearance.

Ever so slowly Sally's father raised his arm and opened his hand, unleashing whatever power it was he had called upon.

It was almost beautiful as everything around him started to dissolve into a strange black powder, which was swirling in the air around him. Almost like everything was being consumed by the dark aura he was emitting.

Then reality itself seemed to break, as the building fractured apart around them, a surge of Energy unlike anything Piper had ever felt before filled the room as Sally threw her hands out to either side, leaping in front of Annabeth and Piper as she did so.

That's when the entire top floor of the Apartment building just vanished, a surge of power roared out from Sally's father, ripping the upper levels of the apartment complex and several of the buildings directly around them apart as the entire structure began to collapse in on itself.

"Go now!" Sally's voice rang out in Piper's head as she grabbed Annabeth's hand and ran towards what she hoped was the edge of the building. Her blind sprint was rewarded with a stomach dropping fall, as she and Annabeth tumbled off the edge of the apartment building.

She heard a sound not unlike something tearing as a strange blue portal swirled to life just below them. Piper fell through it instantly and dropped several feet into a river tributary, her head going under for an instant before she popped back up, gasping for breath.

Annabeth and Jason dropped through the portal seconds later, landing with a splash in the water as Piper frantically swam down and grabbed Jason, barely dragging him up out of the water as he started to sink the instant he touched it.

"NOOOOOOOO!" A scream of rage pierced the night sky as the portal showed the clear image of Percy's Apartment building collapsing into the street, as explosions of magical energy, dwarfing anything that had been let loose earlier lit up the skyline around the building.

Then just as suddenly it opened the portal snapped shut, locking away the noise of the battle and the scenes of destruction it was displaying.

Annabeth was busy keeping Estelle safe and above water wherever she could, leaving Piper alone to lug Jason's limp body behind her. The river fed into the ocean not far from where they waded in the chest deep water.

"Where are we?" Piper asked nervously as she looked around the unfamiliar shoreline.

"I have no idea…. Come on.. We need to get out of the water, get dry and get as much ambrosia and nectar into Jason as possible…. Then we need to find a way back to camp and figure out what the fuck we are going to do about all this…." Annabeth said as she looked at the child in her arms with both concern and fear.

"What about Sally?" Piper asked anxiously as she gestured to the spot in the sky where the portal had been.

"She made a choice to save us and her daughter, we can't throw that away…. Besides, if I know Sally, she won't go quietly…" Annabeth finished sadly as she looked at the setting sun.

Piper nodded and hoisted Jason out of the water a little more, draping his free arm around her shoulder as she and Annabeth began to trudge clear of the water and back to shore. Carrying an Ardywr child and the half dead son of Jupiter along with them.

Nico 4 Days & 40 Minutes After Eripus

Nico's arm was sore, his shirt was stained in monster dust and blood and he could barely keep his balance as he stumbled about in the mud, but still he and Renya fought in the middle of a mob of monsters, A lone island in the sea of enemies around the gate.

Renya had marched her Praetorians and a dozen or so Legionnaires to cover the slowly widening gap in front of the gate house; there were just too many monsters. And ever so slowly their own lines had been pushed farther and farther behind them as Reyna and he were fighting like two dozen demigods on their own.

But Nico knew it wouldn't last.

Two Telkhine's burst free of the crowd and rushed towards him, the first flying past him in two pieces as Nico slashed upwards. Drawing his stygian iron blade clean through its torso from hip to shoulder.

As he finished the swing he kicked out, grunting as his knee tweaked to the side painfully. However his foot blasted the air out of the second Telkhine's lungs as it lunged at him, sending it stumbling backwards. Nico tripped as his foot made contact with the ground, losing his balance as he struggled to put weight onto his knee.

The Telkhine thought it could take advantage of his distracted state, which would have been true. If Nico had actually been distracted, quick as a viper his sword lashed out, freeing the Telkhine's head from its shoulders as Nico tumbled past him. Landing on his shoulder, Nico grunted as pain flared up in his arm and chest.

He instinctively raised his weapon above his head, as if to ward off a blow when he saw Reyna step cleanly past him. A gladius held in one hand, some discarded mace in the other, the demigod was glowing with a dull red aura as anything that came within her reach was very quickly reduced to sprays of blood and golden dust.

Gwendolyn was flanking her on the left, and several other haggard praetorians were forming a rough protective formation around the remaining regular Legionnaires, who were battered and bruised almost beyond recognition. None of them were uninjured and all of them wore the same shattered and defeated look, both in their eyes and their posture.

"REYNA!" Nico shouted as he struggled to his feet, his hand held out in front of himself to ward away the rain and sleet that was pouring down in sheets all around them. Nico quickly fended off one of the strange centaurs, who was armored and wielding a large axe. A quick flurry of blows followed by a single thrust left Nico's blade buried halfway in the creature's skull as he yanked the blade free and watched the monster dissolve into golden dust.

Reyna was currently busy turning a cyclops into mince meat, her first strike taking its leg off at the knee. The second removed its lead hand as it fell. As the cyclops smashed into the ground Reyna drove her sword deep into its side, burying the blade to the hilt in the thick hide of the monster, right at the base of its neck. Then with a sharp jerk she ripped the sword free, leaving the monster's head hanging at a strange angle until it fully dissolved..

"What Di Angelo?" Reyna shouted back at him, and even at their distance perhaps ten feet at most. Nico could barely hear her. "We can't keep fighting like this forever!" he said hurriedly as he ducked underneath a wildly swung club. Darting forwards underneath the swing and thrusting his sword into the chest of the cyclops swinging the weapon.

"What else would you have us do!? We can't fall back there are already too many wounded!" Reyna responded angrily as she drove her sword clean through the skull of a dracane, splitting its head in half as it dissolved into dust. Then blocked a blow from an earthborn before smashing its face into dust with a vicious uppercut from the mace.

"Well we can't stay here!" Nico screamed out as several bolts of lighting slammed into the ground all across the battlefield. The screams of wounded demigods and monsters alike filled the air just as quickly as the stench of burnt skin and iron did.

"WHERE IS ZHANG!" Reyna roared in anger as she grabbed a telkhine by the head and drove her knee into its gut doubling it over before she lopped its head off with a blow from her sword. "WE NEED THE FIFTH AND THAT FIRE SUPPORT NOW!" Reyna screamed as Nico watched two roman demigods get ripped apart by several Empousai, who immediately began to tear the demigods apart and feast on what was left.

Nico snarled in rage at the sight and reached out with his powers, pulling at the shadows around them for an instant as his blood ran cold as ice. His breath misting in front of him as suddenly the ground around the demigod corpses exploded into a jagged mess of black spikes.

The shadows ripped the several of empousai apart, sending blood and monster dust flying about in the rainstorm. Making Nico gag slightly as a wet chunk of something hit him in the face before rapidly dissolving into dust.

The empousai who were unfortunate enough to not die instantly, instead slowly dissolving away to dust as they were held in place by dozens of razor sharp shadow spears. How shit had gone so sideways, Nico had no idea. He stared at the storm in wonder as another series of lighting strikes rained down all across the field, but mostly centralized towards the Greek camp.

Another dull boom echoed in the distance from the direction of camp half blood as Nico looked in awe at the massive Hurricane that was picking up around the camp. It dwarfed anything he had ever seen or heard about. A series of flashes of light surged about in the whirling darkness of the storm.

Nico desperately wanted to know what the hell was going on. How had the monsters gotten so close to the camps? What was going on with the massive hurricane? But most importantly, Hazel was at Camp Halfblood with Thalia and Leo, and after all the shit Nico had heard about today he had little doubt the Greeks would be itching to spill roman blood. And here he was stuck in a battle no more than a few kilometers away. He wanted to know if she was safe, he knew she wasn't dead. But knowing Clarisse, 'not dead' did not mean safe.

Nico was snapped from his thoughts as a roar of anger sounded out ahead of him, a large earthborn running towards him at full speed being the source. Nico pulled on the powers of the shadows around him, his whole body felt like he had stepped into a freezer.

The earth born moved towards him, lifting all four of its arms into the air with a howl as it slammed its fists right into the spot Nico had been.

Nico had stepped into the shadow realm, leaving the monster looking around dumbfounded for a moment. Only for it to scream in agony and surprise when Nico's blade burst through its chest from behind. With a savage yank Nico ripped the stygian blade free and spun around slicing two of its flailing arms in the process as he walked past the dying monster.

Using the shadow realm had become easier over time, with practice, but this was something else Nico thought to himself darkly. It felt natural right now, almost like the shadows were itching to do what he asked. Nico was pretty certain that was a bad thing considering the dreams Rachel told him about earlier that day.

Nico spat mud and dust out of his mouth as he squinted, trying to peer through the storm as the sheets of water cascaded down from the heavens around him. The ground which was normally soft and grassy was quickly becoming a mud and blood filled swamp. Littered with dead bodies and broken weapons.

A sudden lull in the scream of the storm was cut through by a scream from Reyna.

"Solve Sagittas!" Reynas' voice echoed out over the storm as suddenly the twang of dozens of bows rang out harshly as they loosed volley after volley over the wall into the horde of monsters. The imperial gold tipped arrows dropped them by the dozen as they wailed and thrashed about, their struggling only driving the arrow heads deeper, and crushing their own companions.

Nico saw an abandoned shield, laying discarded on the ground as he rushed forwards to pick it up, Holding it above his head just in case there were any stray arrows that decided to fly his way. After his bad luck today, he wouldn't doubt anything at all he thought miserably.

Thinking back on the past few hours as he angrily hacked through the monsters the only person he could blame was Octavian, the idiot had set up the perfect storm, having attacked the Greeks and let the Romans become lax and at ease in foreign territory, thinking their victory over the Greeks would be overwhelming. Octavian had never considered the possibility of outside attack, and now scores of Roman legionaries were suffering for it.

A sudden flash of gold and purple flew past him as Reyna rushed forwards, the mace spinning around as she slammed it into the side of a cyclops' knee. A loud crack rang out as the monster stumbled sideways, his head dropping inches too low.

So when Reyna thrust her sword straight up over her head it pierced the bottom of the creatures mouth, the tip of her sword somewhere deep inside its skull as it twitched for a few moments, a deluge of blood gushing out of the wound down onto Reyna as she yanked her sword free with a snarl. Stepping clear of the body as it dropped to the ground already dissolving.

"Nico, go find Zhang.. If the fourth doesn't rally and help defend this gate it will fall. And if they get inside the camp it's over and done for." Reyna said bitterly as she looked over the Legions present, who were struggling to keep the monsters from clearing the walls and fortifications and pouring into the base itself.

The storm wasn't helping things and the three figures that had just stepped clear of the trees in the distance made Leo's spirits plummet even further. It only took a few seconds before the ripple of panic spread through the ranks around him and Reyna as the Titans were spotted by most of the Legionnaires.

"... fuck…." Nico said dispassionately as he looked at the three massive figures, walking towards them at a steady pace with their weapons in hand. That was when the largest explosion of Fire Nico had ever seen roared out in the distance. It was so massive that it drew the eye of almost every combatant on the field. However what was stranger was when it parted like some sort of biblical sea. Almost as if the flames had hit some sort of invisible wall they roared off either side, sending plumes of smoke and steam into the air.

"What in the name of the Gods is happening….?" Reyna asked in shock as she looked around the battlefield in horror. Blasts of lighting and high winds were wreaking havoc on both the monsters and the Roman forces alike as neither side could see, and few could manage to stand long enough in the muck to actually fight. So instead it had turned into a series of bloody brawls in the mud. How the Romans were still holding the wall Nico had no idea.

"Reyna, we need to fall back!" Nico shouted as he cut down a Telkhine rushing at him, its claws outstretched and jaw wide open, revealing razor sharp fangs. However Nico reduced it to a pile of golden dust in an instant.

Suddenly the roar of explosions filled the air around Nico as several bolts and projectiles were launched from the various ballistae on the walls. Sending shrapnel and imperial gold ballista bolts ripping through the host of monsters.

"YES FRANK!" Nico screamed out almost joyously as he punched his fist into the air. "Reyna, It looks like Frank and the Fourth took back the south gate! They're giving us cover from that tower! We need to fall back and reform the lines!" Nico shouted out in Reynas direction as he pointed at the tower and its ballista. Which was currently firing projectiles with incredible accuracy at rapid speed into the monstrous horde.

Not that Nico or Reyna and the few Legionnaires with them had anywhere they could run too. They were completely surrounded and isolated from the rest of their forces directly in front of the gate.

A sudden break in the combat left Nico standing in the middle of a clearing in the battle, revealing the Romans still standing. With dozens of bodies laying on the ground, squirming in pain and letting loose wails of agony. Many of them were deadly still and quiet however and Nico knew what that meant, he could feel it in his fathers domains.

Reyna had rallied up the dozen or so Legionnaires and Praetorians who had survived the bloody brawl on the field. None of them were uninjured and all of them were sporting looks of horror. Their eyes shining with panic and fear as they clutched their weapons tightly and let their training take over, their tired bodies moving on auto pilot.

The rise and fall of their swords heralded the fall of dozens of monsters, blood and golden dust splattering about in the air as Reyna led her small group of soldiers desperately, lending her energy freely to everyone and Nico suspected the only reason some of them were still on their feet was because Reyna was leading them. However it seemed to be for naught, all around them the monsters pressed in closer and already Nico knew that this had gone from a dangerous situation to a deadly one.

Sure likely Reyna and himself could escape the center of the field, but he doubted many if any of the wounded romans would make it back to their own lines. Knowing this Nico also knew Reyna wouldn't abandon them, and he refused to abandon her.

So with a shout of anger Nico leapt back into the fray, his Stygian Iron sword whirling to life around him as he did his best to take as many monsters with him as he could.

However what he wasn't ready for was the sudden explosion of energy, like someone had dropped a bomb on the field between the romans and camp halfblood. At first there was a high pitch whine, and then within the hurricane there was a surge of energy. A sea green light meeting a silver one for a split second.

Then the entire storm exploded, water and sleet flying sideways for a moment as the power unleashed shattered the ground and knocked demigods and monsters alike from their feet. Lighting turned the sky into a firework show as the storm resumed once more. The explosion failed to actually dispel it.

Nico could have sworn that for an instant he saw what appeared to be a giant water serpent crashing along the ground. However, Nico had not been ready for the force of the explosion to hurtle him off his feet, along with most of the other demigods and monsters around him.

Nico felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, as he collided with the shield of a fallen roman. His head hit the bossed surface as a dull clang roared out. Instantly he felt tired and dizzy, struggling to get up off the ground as his vision swam in front of him.

"Aww. f-fuck…" Nico managed to stutter out before he passed out in the muck, blood seeping from a cut on the back of his head as he faded into blissful unconsciousness.

*Flashback*

Stealing the banner had been surprisingly easy Nico thought with a Grin as he stood in the dark tent. Holding the legion eagle in his hand as the thing practically hummed with magic. The two unconscious roman demigods at his feet were unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had to wonder what the punishment for knocking out a fellow legionnaire was, but Nico shrugged and figured Reyna would excuse him from that punishment all things considered.

Luckily he didn't have to wait long for the signal from Reyna. The two demigods had yet to even wake up and so Nico didn't bother to tie them up, instead just leaving them sprawled out in the tent as he waited.

When he heard the horn summoning the Legion to muster Nico knew that Reyna and her plan had succeeded. Which did not surprise him, the minute he had learned that Reyna had allies on the inside he knew that it wouldn't be long before the Praetor got what she wanted.

And at this moment, she wanted Octavian's head on a plate.

So when Nico stepped out of the shadows in the command tent he was slightly confused by a naked and hogtied Octavian lying on the floor with a gag stuffed in his mouth.

"... So I got the Legion banner…" Nico said awkwardly as he stifled a laugh while trying not to look at the bruised and battered form of Octavian lying on the ground.

However the tension in the air of the command tent could have been cut with a knife as Reyna and the Roman he had to assume was he contact on the inside stood talking in hushed tones near the large table set up in the center of the tent.

Meanwhile Rachel sat on the ground, a thousand yard stare on her face as he could see she had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy and there were tear tracks down her face.

"... okay, does anyone want to tell me what's going on?" Nico asked in confusion as he leaned the banner against the crossbeam in the center of the tent.

"Octavian is what's going on…." Reyna said with a sigh as she turned to look at Nico. "He disobeyed my direct orders, and launched an attack on the campers while we were on Olympus with the Gods…."

Nico froze as he turned to look at the prone figure of Octavian, "... what did he do…." Nico said as he didn't even spare Reyna or the other Roman a glance.

"He used fire from the Catapults against the camp. He struck around dinner time, and he said he knew the location of the Pavilion the Greeks ate dinner in ..."

"We never got casualty reports but the Greeks have been out for blood for the last twenty four hours, Even the Satyrs and druids have been attacking us. Not to mention our scouts and patrols were put off for safety reasons. so we can only assume that Octavian was successful in some way. The roman said formally as she looked at Nico.

"Gwendolyn right?" Nico asked as his hands were trembling at his sides, he could barely control the anger he felt right now as he looked down on Octavian.

"Yes…." Gwendolyn replied cautiously as she rested her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Were you the one who caught this little shit?" Nico asked quickly

"Yes, well myself and a few other Praetors. Not that he put up much of a fight, he was ahem, 'busy' with one of the centurions of the first. Michelle LaCroux if I remember correctly." Gwendolyn said as a look of disgust crossed her features and she shuddered briefly.

Nico nodded quietly for a moment, before he lashed out with his foot several times, kicking Octavian in the groin, and face as he screamed in rage. Then almost abruptly as it started Nico stopped, Walking away from the groaning form of Octavian after a moment, letting out a deep breath as he did so.

"Alright, I'm guessing this puts a kink in your plans Reyna?" Nico said in a defeated voice as he tried not to look at Rachel, she would know exactly who had died, and based on the look on her face and the way she was gripping the hilt of her dagger. It wasn't good.

"The Greeks wont take this lying down…. They are going to be braying for blood at the moment." Nico said angrily.

"You're right, the Greeks wont take this lying down. But we can't allow this to escalate into an all out war. So we need a way to get the Greeks to come to the table. Octavian is dead to rights by our own laws. So if it makes amends for what he's done then the Greeks can decide his fate." Reyna said as she started at the map on the table.

"If I can speak to the Greeks this can all be sorted easily, provided you're willing to let the Greeks punish Octavian. They might not like me, but they trust me enough to listen." Nico added as he looked at Reyna.

"He dies at the hands of the Greeks, or the cross. The blood of every dead Greek and wounded Roman from this 'conquest' of Octavian's lies solely on his hands. If the Greeks wont punish him, I will, Personally." Reyna finished in a voice so cold actually caused Nico to wince slightly.

"That won't be the end of it…." Rachel said with a sad sniffle as she sat on the ground, her arms wrapped around her knees. Her hair a wild mess and her eyes were locked in a thousand yard stare.

"What did you see Rachel?" Nico asked cautiously, given the state she was in Nico wasn't entirely sure he wanted her to answer.

"Classic oracle bullshit…." She said angrily as her eyes came into focus again for a moment. "Fire and Shadows, Blood and Water … tell me how that makes sense." Rachel said in an exhausted voice as she looked at the ground.

"Rachel had a vision shortly after we 'captured' Octavian. She kept screaming about Shadows and Blood…. Is this normally how you Greeks receive prophecies?" Reyna asked curiously.

"Its not a fucking Prophecy…" Rachel said as she stood up suddenly, "Its a warning, AND A FUCKING SHITTY ONE! WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT EVEN MEAN!" Rachel screamed at the ceiling angrily.

"Okay, so any idea when this warning is for?" Gwendolyn asked

"If I knew that then maybe it wouldn't be so useless…" Rachel replied with a snarl as she turned around and looked at Octavian as if her gaze alone could turn him to dust.

*Flashback End*

Nico groaned as he rolled over, spitting mud and dirty water out of his mouth as he rushed to fill his lungs with air. Only to begin coughing as the air itself tasted almost burnt, Nico then realized he couldn't hear anything, just a loud roaring in his ears.

Several hands reached down to grab him, roughly hoisting him to his feet out of the water as he caught a glimpse of Reyna screaming orders at the Legionnaires picking him up and gesturing behind them. That's when he turned around and realized it wasn't that he couldn't hear anything…

It was that it looked like something in the sky had just punched the ground, a massive twisting pillar of clouds, crackling with lightning slammed into the ground. Tossing monsters and terrain around like play toys it ripped apart the central line of the monster ranks.

However, that's when Nico realized it was headed right for them. And suddenly the exhaustion in his limbs was replaced by newfound energy as he and Reyna ran at the head of the group of Legionnaires, doing their best to protect the other Demigods as they ran away from the camp towards the shoreline of the lake.

As they raced away from the super charged tornado they were forced to cut their way through battle at its thickest. And Nico was instantly reminded of the horrors of the second titan war. Only this was worse.

A demigod right beside Nico disappeared in a spray of blood and guts as a giant wielding a club crushed her with a single blow. Splattering her gore all over Nico as he screamed in rage and leapt at the giant. Grabbing the fallen romans sword he leapt forwards and thrust it hilt deep into the monster's stomach.

Then with a roar of anger he ripped the blade sideways along its stomach, disemboweling the giant messily. Nico ripped the blade free, a quick flick of his wrist severed the monster's hamstrings and it collapsed face first to the ground, dead long before it landed.

Romans were flocking from all around them, running from the tornado for their lives as it laid waste to friend and foe alike. At some point during the rout, Nico had taken a section of shrapnel to the back, and had to be carried the rest of the way by two Roman Legionnaires, who had him slung between them. His arms over their shoulders as they ran like their lives depended on it.

Shrapnel and weapons flew through the air, as roman demigods and monsters alike were killed by the storm. The roaring sound disappeared suddenly as Nico felt several immense Auras flare into existence. At the same time a sea green aura was cast across the entire field as another Aura roared to life, equally matching that of the Olympian gods themselves.

Several demigods stopped and turned to look, including the two supporting Nico. Which granted him the opportunity to see something that genuinely terrified him.

A warrior clad in all black, a roaring sea green aura blazed around them. Nico couldn't make out any details from this distance, but the raw power that rolled off the figure in waves was genuinely terrifying.

What was worse was the roar that came from ahead of them as Several Giants and two Drakons began to bear down on their position. Moans of despair rose up from almost all of the demigods as several of them simply collapsed to the ground staring at the monsters charging towards them in horror.

Nico groaned in pain as he stumbled away from the two demigods who had been supporting him. A scream tearing free of his lips as he forced himself to stand up straight, gripping his sword tightly in one hand.

He limped over and stood beside Reyna, as tall as he could. Looking around at the monsters who were quickly recovering from the shock of the sudden tornado. Which meant they only had a few moments before those monsters, The giants and the Drakons would be on top of them.

"It's been an honor Praetor…" Nico said quietly as he stood beside Reyna.

"It has… I'm sorry you're here dying for Romans instead of living with your friends" Reyna replied, her voice quivering slightly at the end.

Nico grinned and shook his head, "Listen after the last four days and everything you and I have been through, you and I are friends.. But I do wish we weren't about to die, can't lie there. My dad's kingdom is pretty terrible in all honesty.." Nico said with a half hearted grin.

Reyna nodded and smiled, before she raised her sword and mace, her face hardening into the visage of a warrior as the red aura surged to life around her once more, filling Nico with the slightest hint of energy.

He hefted his sword and Prepared to fight, knowing that this would likely be his last, and if he was going to go out. It would be like Percy, fighting until his last breath.

"gia ton Ólympo!" Nico Screamed as he thrust his sword into the air, preparing to pull on his fathers powers. Beside him Reyna let loose her own war cry "Roma invicta est!" as she spun her swor over in her hand and prepared to fight.

That's when he heard another voice cut through the din of battle, one he recognized as a wide grin split his face.

"gia ton Ólympo!" came a female war cry as the air took on the hint of ozone for an instant before three bolts of lighting dropped from the sky and slammed into the monster's ranks all around Nico and Reyna. Blasting the monsters into pieces as a dozen more cries were taken up after the first.

Suddenly rushing up from the shoreline of the lake came nearly three dozen Greeks in armor, all clutching weapons as they smashed into the monsters from behind. The sheer force of their charge shattered the host on that side, as monsters began to run away.

Normally Nico would have questioned it, but based on the three figures at the head of the demigods Nico would have run as well.

Thalia led from the center, her entire body sending arcs of electricity into the air around her as she killed monsters by the dozen with bolts of lighting. Her spear made short work of anything that came within her reach.

To her left was Clarisse, her body wreathed in a blood red aura as she seemed untouchable, Nico knew what the blessing of Ares looked like and he made a mental note to stay out of her way.

Finally on Thalia's right was a demigod wreathed entirely in flames. He held a hammer on one hand and was directing torrents of flame with the other as he smashed his way through any monster dumb enough to come close to him. Anything that turned and ran he quickly turned to dust.

Nico and the other romans around Reyna screamed out in joy as they surged to their feet, reaching for weapons as the slightest sliver of hope returned to the exhausted soldiers.

Nico knew the odds were still against them, but at least if they could link up with Thalia's group some of them might survive the way back to the encampment. It would be tough but they could do it.

That's when he heard another series of screams and shouts. Followed by the clamp of boots and the rhythmic sound of shields and swords being drawn as Nico turned to see Frank leading what looked to be half the fourth.

Frank's eyes were filled with anger as he looked at the dozens of dead demigods that littered the battlefield. He slowly lifted his sword and then his voice rang out loud and clear across the ranks of Romans.

"Roma invicta est!"

The entire cohort echoed the cry back behind him as they charged forwards, rushing to protect their Praetor and the few remaining Praetorians.

In that instant Nico felt a weight lift off his chest as he stared at the monsters now reeling backwards under assault by nearly fifty demigods.

They could win.

They had too.

Author Notes:

Roman:

Solve Sagittas: Loose Arrows!

Cincinno Cypeis: Lock Shields

Roma invicta est: Rome Is Invincible

Greek:

gia ton Ólympo: For Olympus

Okay wow, that was a LOT more than i thought that was going to be… like Honestly I swear. Everytime I say "yea this will just be a short little bonus chapter no biggie". I start writing and suddenly the little mini chapter is like 14k words lol. Many apologies the chapter was so late, I'm still going to try and get another one out this week but given how long these chapters are getting I'm not gonna promise, I'll just do my best lol.

However this does bring up the pressing issue… I said I was going to end this arc around chapter 21… T'was a grave mistake on my end lol. It may be slightly longer, like several chapters longer but we shall see haha (Maybe 25? That sounds like a good number lol). However, I still want to get a head start on that Poll on Percy's love life as I will be putting it out soonish.

So comment away, tell me what ships you want to see! You can Dm me, or post a review, that doesn't matter to me. It can be OC's, current characters, or characters you want to see. Single relationships or Harem your guys call. I'll take all submissions by chapter 23 (2 chapters from now) and then I'll put up a poll with the most popular/top choices. And yall can vote away.

Alright, onto the good stuff.

Sally! (Sallira?) Anyhow, you know her, Percy's badass mom. Now before anyone gets too upset with me for my interpretation of the character I'll explain a few things.

Sally is the daughter of an Incredibly powerful Ardwyr, and was raised to follow his plans. When she broke free she had to 'sever' her own connection to the Aetherium and mask Percy's in order to hide from her father. Which is why she refused to use her powers to protect herself, and only risked using them when Estelle was in mortal danger. (Keep in mind she was in the car with paul, I can't imagine she carried weapons around on her they were ambushed)

Sally in the books was a fucking badass, like she turned Gabe to stone with medusa's fucking head, if thats not badass for a 'mortal' then I dont know what is. I couldn't think of a better way to pay tribute to that badassness than by doubling down on it in my darker PJO world.

Obviously Sally's trying to put Annabeth onto the trail of something, she gave her that book and the amulet and told her what she needed was in Denver. Sally clearly knows that her father has some sort of plan and that it involves Percy and Estelle.

The final and most important reason why I think Sally fits this role, she's fighting to protect her child. This isn't Sally doing something out of character, she knows she can't beat her father. But she knows she can buy Annabeth and Piper time to escape with Estelle and that's all she cares about.

So what did Sally's father mean by Jason being more useful alive than dead? It's clear this guy has a plan, but what is it?

Not to mention both he and Sally possess a much greater control of Aetherium and their Ardwyrian powers than Percy does. Perhaps he might find himself a teacher?

Cue the entrance of the Greek Demigods, how much of a difference can Leo, Thalia and the rest make? Not to mention what's going on at the Greek Camp? We know Percy has fought most of that portion of the army. But what happened with the campers? Guess you'll have to wait and find out!

Finally in the next chapter we will get a POV from Frank for those of you that want that, for the rest of you chill out there will also be Thalia and Hestia (I'm assuming that one will be a fan favorite).

As always I wanted to thank everyone who takes the time to read or review this story. I love to hear from you guys, that shit straight up makes my day lol. I am so excited we are finally getting close to the end of the first Arc. It feels like it's been forever but I'm just as excited to write the next one for you guys!

Until next time folks! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Edit: For those who are interested I do have a discord server ready to go. However fanfiction seems to block links when posted in the story or on my profile. So if you want an invite PM me for now. Once i have figured out the issue I will post the Discord link on my profile/in a chapter. I have some artwork and will possibly put sneak peaks/previews of chapters in there for yall to peruse between actual release dates.