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!

25. Chapter 25: Aftermath

Chapter Twenty Five: Aftermath

Comment Responses:

Be Lekker: I figured a bunch of people would be happy she was alive. Glad you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoy this one as well, Sorry for the long wait!

Uh oh: That's super high praise, and I'm glad to hear you like the story so much :), enjoy the chapter!

Anonymously96: I disagree, he just spent time fighting with an entire army, fighting off multiple titans and all the pain and injury that came along with that. Then he is rescued by someone who provides some proof that their side of the story might be legit.

Percy went to follow up on that, made it clear he wasn't looking to fight and wanted to speak to said gods, And was attacked. Several times during the fight he even made it clear he didn't want to fight them, that is until Dionysus started messing with his mind at which point Percy started fighting seriously.

As for Annabeth, she just watched him get shot in the chest, she's clearly trying to figure out what is going on, and something terrible has happened. Percy is mad, and at the point where he's about to kill Jason, I mean he rips his arm off…Given everything going on I honestly don't think Annabeth would have been thinking straight.

Hope that helped clear that up for you! Enjoy the chapter :) (If you want to discuss this more feel free to DM me and i'll answer any questions you have)

Roryrex: I'm very sorry this isn't the Japanese demigods, I had to change the chapter structure :( But I didn't forget about them, you'll see them in the next chapter lol. Enjoy!

Truesonofstyxs: I really appreciated your help with the previous chapter, I'm not a big gun person and I clearly missed that edit, so thanks! I'm glad that the story helped you pass the time while you were sick :) Enjoy the chapter!

Unknown: Glad you liked the battle scenes, as for the rest , he killed like 6 Titans… and stabbed Dionysus through the face… and cut Ares' arm off. You are correct that he didn't 'kill' them permanently, but they are Gods. Killing them is a little more complicated than it is with a regular person.

HellRaiderS: Well that's bloody great! Enjoy the chapter :3

Aspect of Stories: Ty, and will do, sorry the wait was so long. Enjoy the chapter!

As always I'd like to throw a shout out to my Beta readers and those who are in discord. I really appreciate all your guys help with the editing and if you want to be a part of that process or see the teasers/artwork and or ask questions in between chapter releases,

If you want to join the discord server:

h938mt5jRM

Enjoy the chapter folks!

Hazel Levesque 4 Days 1 Hours & 30 Minutes After Eripus

Her ears were ringing, and as she walked forwards, she felt more than saw the two huntresses at her side. Several others were behind them, but Hazel wasn't concerned about the others, the two huntresses Isabelle and Karina had been with her the entire night, and they had saved each other more than once.

She knew they had her back, at least in regards to killing monsters. Something which both Isabelle and Karina were deadly proficient at.

Even Hazel had to admit they gave some of the seven a run for their money. It was systematic, the two of them working in unison as anything they came across was overwhelmed with lightning speed by the two silver garbed warriors. Just watching the two had greatly increased her respect for the hunters, even if they were a little crazy.

Hazel didn't even think about the danger of rushing through the camp that had minutes ago been a warzone, she was instead more concerned with finding the other members of the seven. Nothing else mattered at the moment, she needed to find Annabeth or Thalia.

If she was right, then she needed to talk to them before the entire Greek and Roman worlds were dragged into this insanity.

So it was with great urgency that the three of them rushed around the camp, nothing could save any monsters they ran across. However, more often than not they were forced to stop and check on various injured demigods. For the most part it appeared as if the injuries were related to the explosions set off by Artemis and Dionysus.

As they headed out of the camp, the destruction around them increased ten fold, until finally they found the clearing where the Ardwyr had confronted Dionysus.

The whole place may as well have been painted gold, it was everywhere. On the grass, the trees, dripping from the leaves, and pooling on the ground underneath the body.

The younger huntress, Karina was immediately violently ill, followed by Hazel. With even Isabelle gagging upon seeing the ruined corpse of the Wine God. His left leg shattered beyond repair, his right foot missing along with his entire right arm. His body was riddled with slash marks of varying sizes and his entire body was impaled nearly two feet off the ground through the face which was barely recognizable as anything more than a lump of flesh and bone, by his own Thyrsus, his symbol of power.

Karina finally stopped coughing and gagging, instead choosing to look away from the corpse, Isabelle however had the exact opposite response, watching the Gods corpse intently.

"I-is he dead?" Isabelle asked in shock as she continued to watch Dionysus, but never once took a step closer to him.

"I don't know…." Hazel replied in a small voice as she looked around the forest, trying to spot anyone, preferably a child of Apollo. "He can't have much ichor left in his body if it is spilling everywhere…." Hazel said as she gestured to the golden fluids slowly seeping out of the Wine God's body .

"I mean… he is a God… you know , he can't die, right?" Isabelle added in concern as she moved closer to the Wine God. Dionysus for his part was either a great actor, or he was genuinely unresponsive, as he failed to so much as react when Isabelle poked his chest.

"... Gods above, what the hell did that Ardwyr do to him?" Karina finally choked out as she wiped spit and bile from her mouth.

"Whatever it was, he wasn't gentle about it either," Isabelle said with a low whistle as she gestured towards the head of Dionysus' staff, which was at least three feet out the back of the tree. And while the staff itself wasn't damaged in any noticeable way, however, the forest behind the tree was a mess, it looked like someone had set a bomb off, broken branches, felled trees and churned earth. All of it in a direct line from the staff off into the forest for nearly thirty feet.

Hazel looked off into the woods, trying to spot anyone she knew, as she frantically looked for the faces of Reyna, Jason, Annabeth, hell anyone she knew would be fine at this point. Yet with each step she took, with every scene of death and destruction she passed, Hazel grew more and more worried that she wasn't going to find them.

Cold and dead on the forest floor, like so many others.

The horror show continued as they raced deeper into the forest, passing by demigods who were being carried or escorted away in various states of injury. Along with several bodies that lie still on the ground, dead.

A clearing in the forest ahead of them revealed Ares, slumped down, his sword held in one hand propped up against his shoulder and his back resting against a tree. His face was pale and sweaty and he barely seemed conscious.

All around them demigods were unsure of what to do, stumbling around in exhaustion as they looked for wounded and counted their dead. Meanwhile the Gods for all their supposed power simply lay where they had fallen, either incapable or not desiring to get up and help their children.

Hazel ran forwards and grabbed one of the Greek campers by the shoulder, spinning them around as she quickly shouted at them. "I need to find Thalia, or Annabeth… hell Jason or Reyna would be fine right now! Have you seen any of them!?"

The demigod spun around, only for hazel to gasp in shock, the demigod in question having lost the lower section of his right arm. The wound was jagged and rough looking, with burnt flesh around the stump at their elbow.

"Karina! Isabelle!" Hazel shouted as the demigod stumbled backwards and fell over. His brown hair falling in front of his eyes, and his skin, white as paper as he laid there, chest barely moving.

Suddenly two sets of hands reached out and grabbed the demigod, dragging him up off the grounds and propping him up. "Fuck…. Conner what the hell!" Isabelle said as she caught a glimpse of the boy's face.

Immediately she set about rummaging in her bag, pulling out two small vials of nectar and a bag filled with a few small cubes of ambrosia. "We need to get him back to the others and Chiron, or he's going to bleed out…. it's a wonder he's not dead yet…" Isabelle said as she began to work quickly.

Hazel had no idea who he was, but the boy was mumbling incoherently, and pointing towards the forest weakly with one hand.

"KARINA, GET OVER HERE!" Isabelle shouted out as the younger girl sprinted to her side.

Karina, beside her, had already torn the bottom of her shirt clean open and had cut two long strips from the white fabric of her shirt. Hazel watched as Karina quickly began to soak the strips of her shirt in the nectar from one bottle while Isabelle made a paste out of the Ambrosia and Nectar and smeared it over his arm.

Then in one quick motion Isabelle forced what little nectar remained down his throat and helped Karina wrap the salve and bandage around the stump of Conner's arm. Before Isabelle handed her sword to Karina and bent down, lifting Conner over her shoulders in a fireman's carry.

"Come on, we got to go now!" Isabelle half shouted as she struggled to lift the larger boy.

"What about Thalia and the others!?" Hazel shouted out as she started to follow Isabelle who was setting a blistering pace towards the big house through the forest. Casting her gaze back towards the spot where Conner had pointed at.

Something felt off, and as Hazel watched she could have sworn she saw a figure made of clay step forwards out of the woods. Watching her, but in an instant it was blocked from view by a tree and by the time she looked back to where the figure had been. It was long gone.

"We can find them later, we need to get Conner back to camp before he bleeds out!" Isabelle shouted out as she half dragged half carried the limp demigod through the forest.

Hazel wanted to turn back for the figure, to see what was lurking in the forest around the camp, but she could feel Conner's life hanging by a thread, she could feel her fathers realm calling to his soul with each step they took.

Whoever he was, he seemed important to Isabelle, and right now, that meant Hazel needed to stay with Isabelle and Conner. To do what she could, and perhaps it might be enough to save him.

They burst into camp, rushing past the ruins of the arts pavilion and following the well worn path up towards the camp itself. Already dozens of injured demigods were scattered around the area, most of them with non life-threatening injuries.

Karina was shouting at the top of her lungs, waving Isabelle's sword around in the air as she rushed up the path directly ahead of Isabelle, who had sweat pouring down her face as her breath came out in short gasps.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Karina shouted as Isabelle dashed past a group of demigods, almost sending Conner sprawling into the dirt as she stumbled to the side before she caught her balance and took off.

Hazel rushed past the others, apologizing to the few who were still on the ground as she took off after Karina and Isabelle.

When she finally caught up to them, it was in time for her to see Isabelle slide to the ground, completely out of breath as two children of Apollo carried the limp form of Conner into the Big house, which was serving as an impromptu medical center.

She could still feel Conner's soul attached to his body, and for the moment, it appeared as if he was safe. But she knew from experience that all it took was an instant.

Two children were lugging a massive demigod between them, his face and upper body badly burned and scarred, blood bubbling from his nose as he screamed and thrashed about in their arms.

Nearby another demigod was in far worse shape, his body already having gone a ghostly white, his wound was clearly not caused by any mortal. He was missing the lower half of his legs, it looked like they had been blown clean off. He was being carried on a stretcher towards the Big house, along with many others. But Hazel knew it was too late.

She knew he was going to die, she could already see the way his body and his soul were beginning to separate. It was like lifting a veil, and watching from behind the scenes, and once you had. You just knew, and Hazel knew that the demigod was dead, no matter how soon he reached the Big House.

She sat there beside the two huntresses as they waited near the tent. Isabelle for her part was half asleep on the floor, the sprint from the forest, through the camp and up the hill to the Big house had clearly taken it out of her.

Karina meanwhile sat beside her, casually playing with one of the dozen or so knives she carried.

It was like something from her worst nightmare, Hazel could feel as each and every soul was torn from its battered body. Like a scream only she could hear as she walked onwards in exhaustion. Tears welling in her eyes as she saw dozens of ghostly white shades wandering around camp half blood, all around her.

Some seemed to understand what had happened, the looks of misery and hopelessness standing out strongly on those. While others either ignorant or in denial stumbled about in confusion, calling out desperately to friends and allies who could not see or hear them.

The air stung her eyes and lungs, full of smoke and the smell of blood carried on the hot air. Several sections of the forest itself were alight with strange silver flames; it had even burned down the Aphrodite cabin and the cabin of Zeus. The flames had been hard to extinguish and had cast a silver glow across the entire camp.

Rumors were abound as to who had caused the damage, but Hazel had seen it all, she had watched Artemis rain fire from the skies, and the Ardwyr had erected some sort of shield around the camp.

However, she had lost sight of him shortly after that, and now he was gone according to the demigods who had flocked back from the forests, Ares in the lead, missing an arm. His armor battered and broken, but his face was not filled with rage as it had been in the council meeting, instead he had a strange, almost thoughtful expression as he looked at the camp around him, Hazel had seen that look turn to one of disgust as he looked at Artemis, still lying unconscious in the crater where she had landed.

Then with a wave of his hand he dispelled the flames, which guttered and died after several moments. Leaving Ares panting with exertion as he looked around the camp before nodding and crashing to his knees as he dropped face first onto the ground.

Which had of course sent his children into literal fits, several of them had quite literally been frothing at the mouth in rage as they searched the camp for the Ardwyr that had so gravely injured their father.

Another chorus of screams broke free from the medical tent that had been erected near the Big house, another voice added to the cacophony of others. Victims of tonight's insanity, be it the monsters, the freak storm or the battle between the Gods and the Ardwyr. The ones who died were the demigods, and they died painfully Hazel thought with a shudder, as another soul was finally granted the release of death.

She would have normally thanked the gods, but the phrase caught on her tongue, like ash or dirt. It tasted foul. No, thanks lay with Chiron, and the children of Apollo who were working frantically alongside him.

Chiron was conscious, if only barely, having cracked his head across the tree and into the boulders. Not to mention whatever the Ardywr had done it had broken several bones in his ribs and one of his legs.

However the centaur had simply demanded a crutch, and had hobbled his way over to the medical tent, giving advice and helping to organize supplies for the children of Apollo by sending other younger campers off to fetch specific items and herbs.

No one had dared to go near Artemis save for her hunters, and Dionysus was still pinned to a tree just outside camp. Hazel could hear the frantic pleas for help from Apollo from dozens of his children as they struggled to keep their patients alive. However, they weren't alone; dozens of voices joined in the chorus of wails, calling out to Zeus, Hera, Demeter, and any other number of minor Gods..

Yet their calls remained unanswered, and through it all one voice broke through the rest.

None were louder than Atlanta, who had tears streaming down her face as she called out to her father, begging him to come and help his sister, to save those huntresses who lay cold and still on the ground, their lifeblood seeping away.. But for whatever reason the Gods had ignored their calls. Leaving the demigods to their fate.

For whatever reason, the wounds suffered by Artemis, Ares, Dionysus and Athena seemed to have been more serious than they might have appeared at first glance. Normally the gods would heal rather quickly, almost instantaneously. However, these wounds seemed to refuse to heal, no matter how much nectar and ambrosia they stuffed down the Gods mouths.

That situation was as hopeless as any, no amount of mundane healing would close those sword wounds and so they were forced to wait for one of the Olympians to arrive.

They had been waiting for a while now.

Hazel wasn't sure how long she had spent looking for any signs of Frank or the other members of the seven, or when she had separated from Isabelle and Karina. But eventually she had just collapsed in the muddy field near the ruins of the arts pavilion. However, it appeared as if luck was not on her side, as she had failed to find them amidst the chaos of campers and legionnaires being rushed towards a large central treatment center.

And now she was sitting down in a muddy field in the middle of the ruins of the arts pavilion, And it was still better than being back in that camp.

The ruins of the arts pavilion was about as far away from the treatment center as she could get. It was filled with the children of Apollo, Roman and Greek alike, working like mad to save everyone they could.

It was the same across the entire camp, the demigods were in a panic. Nico, Reyna, Frank and Thalia were nowhere to be seen. Annabeth and the others still had not returned from New York, none of this was going how they had planned.

None of their leaders were there, Gods were wounded, everything was a mess. That was before the earth shattering realization had hit her. Before she had been forced to think about what she and the others had just done.

The madness they had just unleashed.

She could feel the darkness clawing at her mind, the sound of sobbing and crying echoing back and forth as she sat there on the ground, her knees tucked up against her chest. Her gaze was cast downwards, to avoid the looks of anyone nearby.

She couldn't bear to look at them, she couldn't bear to see the hopelessness in their eyes.

Because she knew her eyes were just as hopeless. She couldn't offer them anything that she herself didn't need.

Tears were running down her cheeks as her breath came in short sobs, she struggled to think back on it. Recalling everything that had happened in the last hour.

Every word he had said, every action he had taken, from the moment he had cut his way through the host of monsters attacking them, up until Ares had called off their duel and he left.

He hadn't started the fight, he had tried to leave, told them multiple times he didn't want to fight.

They had attacked him, Chiron had attacked him. Hell the Gods themselves had all attacked him, and yet. He had risked his life to save Clarisse, to protect the camp from Artemis's powers.

He had destroyed one building in a clear message to the Gods, his own cabin, and yet during the course of their fight with him, the Gods had destroyed almost half of the camp.

Maybe that could all have been overlooked, but the second he said her name. The second she heard the sound of the boy she had grown to look at like an older brother, she knew who it was under the helmet and armor.

But if she was right, then all of the Demigods and the four Gods here now had just attacked and severely wounded Percy Jackson. While he had protected them, from an entire army of monsters and six Titans.

Hazel remembered the chaos of the fight, when the armies had appeared almost as if from nowhere. A ravening horde of monsters, and the fact that the demigods were awake was due solely to the deafening howls and growls that hundreds of hellhounds had let loose.

Anyone who was awake had instantly scrambled for armor and to raise the alarm, and lucky they had. Moments later the monsters realized they had been revealed by the hellhounds and the war cries from the army had rolled out like a wave.

Even with the little warning they had, it wouldn't have been enough. Hazel herself had barely gotten out of bed, sword in hand and her Roman armor half strapped over her shoulders as she looked at the fields past Thalia's pine in horror.

Hundreds if not thousands of monsters were rushing to meet them, the sheer size of the army was something she wasn't prepared for, There didn't seem to be an end to them. But like some sort of avenging angel the 'Ardwyr' had dropped down into the middle of the army, sowing so much discord and destruction that the charge of the army ground to a halt. Buying the demigods time to rally, and properly arm themselves.

Hazel closed her eyes, wiping away tears as she felt another soul part from its mortal coil. It wasn't painful per say, not like a physical wound would, But it ached all the same. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take this, where in her father's name were the rest of the Gods!?

Their children were dying, by the score and nothing was being done….

"Hazel…." a tired voice called out to her. "Come on, you can't just sit out here…."

"I most certainly can…." Hazel said with a sigh as she looked up at the two huntresses before her. "Go away.."

Isabelle and Karina, both of them covered in muck and grime as they looked at her sympathetically. The two huntresses had been with her from the start of the battle, and had been by her side along with Phoebe and Atlanta when they confronted Percy at the foot of the Thalia's Tree.

They had followed her throughout most of the battle, on Thalia's orders no doubt. But in that span, they had saved each other's lives a dozen times over. Hazel couldn't deny that she was glad to see they were unharmed, save for a few cuts and scratches from when the cabin exploded.

Another instance of Percy saving them, as he had chosen to erect a wall of ice around them, rather than himself.

Hazel couldn't deny that was who Ardwyr was, not after he talked to her. But it didn't make any sense, how was he alive! Why had he not just revealed who he was? Because none of it made sense, her gut told her that it was Percy. But the Percy she knew wouldn't have impaled Dionysus through the head to a tree.

"We aren't going anywhere…. This place is still dangerous Hazel.." Isabelle added in an exhausted voice as she sat down on a collapsed section of wall. Stretching her legs out as she tenderly touched a red stained bandage on her side, wincing as she did so. "So if you want to stay here, then I guess we will as well…" Isabelle added with a small smile.

"Yea, not like we haven't stayed outside in worse with Lady Art-..." Karina started to say before her face went a very pale shade of green and she clammed up immediately.

Hazel looked between the two of them, watching the fear and anxiety play across their features as their gaze was drawn back towards their mistress and the gathering of huntresses around her. "How is she? Any word from Thalia?" Hazel added at the end hopefully.

Isabelle looked at her sadly, shaking her head. "I have not been with the hunt long, but I have never seen milady injured like this. The wounds from that bastard's sword refuse to heal….." Isabelle added angrily as some fire came back into her eyes. "And Thalia hasn't been seen since she left with that Valdez boy…"

"His name is Leo…" Hazel replied quickly.

"He is ignorant and flippant… a Boy… and a perfect example of why milady abhors men." Isabelle replied just as fast. "And if anything happens to Thalia because of him, I'll skin the midget alive…." Isabelle finished with an angry look plastered across her face.

"Listen… how about we all simmer down" Karina added softly "No point in getting riled up, Lady Artemis will get better, but she needs her brother, or another Olympian first…"

"Even with help from the children of Apollo?" Hazel added in confusion,

"That's what I thought, but Atlanta keeps saying it's beyond her…. She's been praying to her father for a while now, but nothing from him." Isabelle finished with another sigh.

"He's probably in bed with some slut…. He doesn't care about any of his kids, and I doubt he even cares about his sister. If he did, he'd be here…" Karina said savagely with a dark look on her face. "Some of the other huntresses are saying this is going to be worse than the second Titan war… by far…"

"Silence Karina… I doubt it's wise to curse the Gods at this moment." Isabelle added, her French accent getting slightly thicker as a slight look of anger crossed her delicate features.

"Do this, do that, fight here, kill that… And now when we need them where are they!? At least Artemis and the others were here and fought!" Karina shouted back.

"And where did that get them? Where did that get any of us!? You saw what happened when Artemis and the Gods battled with whatever that was!… For all their efforts to kill him, who ended up dead in the end!?" Isabelle shouted back as she stood up. "This is nothing like the Titan war! At least when Kronos and the traitors attacked us we knew what we were dying for!" Isabelle half screamed out.

Gesturing towards the camp with her sword as Karina closed her eyes and looked at the ground.

"You both saw it, After everything that happened and all the death and destruction. Ares stopped his own child from striking him down, he was barely standing! And then suddenly the 'Ardwyr' is under the War God's protection!" Isabelle screamed out in anger.

"And what if that was the right thing to do?" Hazel said softly as she looked "He protected us from Artemis and Dionysus when they almost killed us with the rubble from the Ares cabin.

"Come off it Hazel, Right thing to do!? How many are dead, how many more are going to die because they let him go?" Isabelle added angrily. "Do you seriously think the Olympians are going to let this stand? At least during the Titan war we fought monsters.." she gestured to the wreckage all around them. "This isn't a battleground for mortals, this is one for the Gods."

Then Isabelle turned and pointed towards the big house and the tent filled with screaming and dying patients. "And that is the cost we pay for taking part…"

"So what, we should have retreated?" Karina replied in shock. "Artemis and the Gods should have fled? We don't even know what an Ardwyr is…" Hazel winced upon hearing that, she might not know it all. But she knew far more than anyone else here did.

"You're right, I..I-... I don't know…." Isabelle replied with a grunt of pain as she was forced to sit down again. Holding her hand against her side. "All I know is that I would rather fight a dozen drakons than fight whatever the hell that was. Let alone more than one of them….."

"Someone must know something!" Karina added in frustration.

".. I don't know too much about the second Titan war to be honest…" Hazel said quietly, straining to block out the screams of dozens of unclaimed souls, wandering the camp. "It was from before I joined the legion… I only ever heard the stories." Hazel finished quietly.

Karina was tight lipped on the subject, physically turning to look away from Hazel as she fingered the hilt of one of her daggers nervously. "A lot of demigods died, on both sides…" Karina whispered softly. "But in the end, it was Percy Jackson, Thalia and Annabeth Chase who stopped Kronos… but I don't see what that has to do with the Ardwyr?"

"Well it's sort of the same, I don't know much about the Titan war, but that's because I wasn't a part of it. Maybe we just aren't asking the right people the right questions…" Hazel added softly as the skies above them rumbled with thunder, prompting her to cast her gaze to the heavens.

Hazel watched the clouds for a moment before she lowered her eyes, only to see Isabelle and Karina looking at her, concern and confusion writing across their faces.

"What kind of questions should we be asking and who should we ask?" Karina blurted out. As Isabelle immediately cast her gaze to the clouds, as another louder rumble of thunder echoed out across the skies.

Isabelle almost leapt to her feet as she moved towards Karina and threw her arm around the younger huntresses shoulder. "Obviously the right ones Kari…." Isabelle added as she locked gazes with Hazel.

"Yea the right ones… like can we even win… you saw what that thing did to the Olympians." Karina replied angrily. "What it did to Lady Artemis…"

"So what…It's not like we won't win this war too" Came an angry voice from beside them as all three demigods turned to see another group of demigods approaching them from the camp. "You forget you two are Huntresses, monsters should fear you... Not the other way around."

Hazel turned around to see two demigods walking towards them, one a child of Apollo and the other a child of Ares.

Phoebe and Atlanta, both of whom looked exhausted, their steps shaky as they walked towards them.

"What's going on?" Isabelle asked quickly, wiping the tears of frustration from her eyes as she did so. "Is Lady Artemis?..."

"No, I'd like to say she's fine, but I don't know if she is. You'll love this…" Phoebe said, her voice laden with sarcasm. "They're all gone….. There was a flash of light, when it cleared Lady Artemis as well as the other Olympians had vanished."

Hazel, Isabelle and Karina stared at the two veteran hunters in shock.

"Lady Artemis is gone?" Karina asked slowly as she looked between Atlanta and Phoebe.

Atlanta looked like someone had punched her in the gut, and Phoebe's face was flushed red in anger.

"Yes… Artemis is gone…" Atlanta added angrily as she turned away from the group, looking back towards the forest and visibly shaking with rage.

"That's it?" Hazel said in a quiet voice as she looked at the smoldering ruins of the camp. "They came and collected their injured and left the rest of us here? Aren't they going to do anything!?"

"... You're not the only one asking that question…" Atlanta said darkly as she looked at Hazel.

"Has there been any word from the other members of the seven!?" Hazel replied in muted desperation, still not taking her gaze off the camp.

"Yes…. Thalia just returned from the Roman camp along with several others… and it was made clear that they suffered casualties almost as bad or even worse than our own…" Atlanta replied in frustration. "Thalia sent us out here to find you, apparently someone is coming from Olympus to collect all of you." she finished as she was nearly trembling with rage, Hazel noticed, as she turned around and looked at the pair.

Phoebe simply looked at the other huntress sadly before she laid her hand on Atlanta's shoulder in an almost loving way, then she turned to look at Hazel.

"I-.. We have a favor to ask…" Phoebe started awkwardly as she looked at Hazel who gulped nervously before she nodded her head.

Phoebe opened her mouth to speak but Atlanta cut her off, "Why? I want to know why we were left to fight alone! AND WHY MY SISTERS DIED ALONE!? WHERE WAS MY FATHER!? Where was Zeus, Hera, where were any of the OLYMPIANS WHEN WE NEEDED THEM!" Atlanta screamed in anger as she looked at Hazel, tears running down her face as she furiously rubbed at her cheeks with her hands.

Hands which were stained red, going up her arms nearly to the elbow, and her silver hunter's garb, was stained a rusty red color from the waist down. With dozens of handprints and marks where she had clearly tried to clean her hands before moving onto the next patient.

"Atlanta….." Isabelle half whispered as she looked at the other huntress in shock.

"Thirty Seven… That's how many we lost today… and all they had to do was FUCKING LISTEN TO US!" Atlanta screamed as she threw her bow to the side in frustration.

"They came down to fight for us!" Karina said with an attempt at positivity.

"No, they came down to fight that Ardwyr, or whatever the fuck they called it…." Phoebe said darkly. "If it had been about protecting us, they wouldn't have done that", she said pointing to the camp which was destroyed by the Olympians in the fight. No, they wanted to fight him… can you honestly tell me after watching that fight that it wasn't Artemis, Dionysus and Athena who did the most damage to the camp…" the girl all but snarled out as she finished.

"Artemis set the camp on fire Phoebe…. I-I just, I've followed her my whole life, for thousands of years… and.. I've never felt this lost before…" Atlanta added softly as she looked at the ground.

Phoebe didn't have a response to that, simply grinding her teeth as the girl looked at the camp in anger.

"I don't know what you want me to do?" Hazel said sadly as she looked at them, "They don't give me any special treatment. I'm not Percy. I can't just tell them off whenever I feel like it…"

"No.. but you are going to see them, and you can ask that question yourself. All I want is an answer! Something to tell me why six of my sisters died tonight, why I had to watch six of my sisters burn to death, charred black by silver flames… Why I'm covered in demigod blood, and yet I don't see a single Olympian here! I want their sacrifice to have been worth something Hazel…. Please…" Atlanta almost pleaded as she looked at Hazel.

She could see the pain in Atlanta's eyes clear as day, and it was a look mirrored by Phoebe who was trying harder to hide it. Even Karina and Isabelle had questioned the Gods' motives, Atlanta had questioned even Artemis, and she had been with the hunt since ancient times.

"I-I'll do what I can." Hazel said, doing her best to put on a brave face for the Huntresses, while on the inside she was terrified at the prospect of confronting the elder Gods on their motivation behind not fighting the Ardwyr. Hazel already knew that the older Olympians were terrified of them, but she knew that the demigods deserved answers. They deserved to know if they were throwing their lives away to protect cowards, or if it really was for a cause.

"I'll do what I can, but you need to keep things down here calm until I get back… we can't afford a repeat of the Romans attacking us or vice versa… there's already been enough death." Hazel said in as steady a voice as she could manage.

"Don't worry, we can keep the Greeks calm, and I'm sure some of the Roman centurions have been told the same thing… but it's only a matter of time." Came the quick reply from Atlanta "The remains of the monsters have been dealt with, and now that it's over we can regroup and reassess the situation. It won't take long for others to start asking questions, and they are going to want answers…"

"So what now then?" Hazel asked quickly as she stood up and walked towards the two veteran huntresses. Both of which were already casting glances back towards the camp, where the rest of the Hunt was.

"For now, we are going to do what Lady Artemis would want, Thalia will be leaving with you so Atlanta and I will command the Huntresses." Phoebe added, as she radiated waves of palpable anger. "We are going to escort you back to the camp, where the rest of the seven who are accounted for are. Then we wait for the arrival of whoever Olympus sent."

Hazel heard Karina and Isabelle standing up behind her, the younger girl immediately moving forwards as she sheathed the dagger she had been fiddling with.

Isabelle meanwhile walked up and laid her hand on Hazel's shoulder as the girls all looked back towards the camp.

And for a few moments none of the demigods said anything, they just started at the ruins of their camp, the one place that was supposed to be safe for their kind. Hazel could only imagine how she would feel if it had been camp Jupiter they were looking at.

But what was worse, was the sinking feeling in her gut, telling her that this wasn't over. That the destruction they were looking at was only the start of something far, far worse.

And the sudden red glow cast across the sky before what could only be described as a flaming dragon exploded through the clouds. Letting out a massive roar as it began to tumble through the air towards the camp. Only for its body to suddenly begin to burn white hot, melting away like slag as the dragons form grew smaller and smaller with each second.

Until finally a woman was all that remained, one with a set of flaming wings that extended out, sending forth a blast of hot air and unleashing a cloud of steam from the surface of the lake.

With almost ethereal grace she seemed to walk across the surface of the water, towards the cabins as Hazel watched in awe.

"L-looks like our guest is here….." Atlanta said in a hard voice, all signs of her tears and frustration gone. The girl was once more replaced by the warrior as she picked up her bow and gestured towards Hazel, Isabelle and Karina.

"Let's go meet whoever that is…" Phoebe added as the group set off towards the center of camp, And whatever awaited them there.

Kolasi 4 Days and 3 Hours & 30 Minutes After Eripus

Kolasi stood at the edge of a large forest, her bare feet burning the grass around her as she stared at the large rusty red patch where not long ago, a boy had lain, terribly injured.

She could sense the traces of ichor in his blood, that all too familiar scent of spice that burned at her nostrils and reminded her of the dark and bleak days spent on the battlefields of Anatolia. She had seen wounds that would have made the boy's injury seem like a papercut in comparison.

But he was no God, and she had seen the damage caused to his torso and shoulder. If the boy had been the son of anyone but Zeus, she might have helped more, might have done more to aid Hestia. But regardless of the strangeness of it, he radiated the same power that Zeus himself did.

So she had left him in her mother's care mostly, and if he was lucky he would live, not that it was much of her concern anyway.

Kolasi had met the strange blonde child no more than twenty minutes before he was taken away by her mother.

The other two had been far more interesting. She didn't recognize the blonde girl's parent,, but even as long ago as it had been, she recognized the all too sweet stench of one of Aphrodite's spawn. However, the pair of girls were absolutely distraught, the blonde one had been motionless, soundlessly crying. Meanwhile the dark haired child had angrily cursed at the skies, screaming at her 'mom', and Aphrodite simply chose not to respond.

The whole thing had been mildly amusing, but Kolasi had been more concerned with the disappearance of the strange young man holding a child and a massive wolf, who simply vanished into shadow.

He was clearly an Ardwyr, she could feel it in his blood. But it was more than that.

Watching the desire to fight simply melt out of her uncles, was a sight for sore eyes, they recognized the Ardwyr. And whatever it was that they recognized, was soul shattering.

Poseidon had stood there, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at where the Ardwyr had just moments ago disappeared, Hades himself had been in a similar position. Only Hestia had leapt into action, calling for Kolasi as she tried to save the boy from certain death.

It was a wasted effort as far as Kolasi was concerned, he was far too weak to fight what was coming, in fact; Kolasi had little doubt that most of the 'Gods' who she was expected to save, would run away screaming in terror if they knew why Hestia had freed her.

It was also the only reason that Kolasi hadn't already attacked the Olympians, she didn't need more enemies than she already had at the moment.

Not to mention, if she had to pick between the Old Ones or the Olympians she would pick the Olympians every time.

Just remembering the events following Anatolia were enough to make her shiver unconsciously, as if a cold breeze had just blown across her skin.

The way her skin had been soaked in ichor, the smell of ash and death hanging thick in the air, and then it had almost appeared. The thousand unblinking eyes that had watched her, its massive hide covered in thick scars and strange tendril-like growths, and worst of all were the mouths filled with thousands of hooked teeth, waiting to devour anything, immortal or not, that got too close.

That was what Hestia feared, that the return of the Ardwyr would also herald the return and awakening of the Old Ones. Gods from before the time of the Olympians, Gods that even the ancient Titans feared.

However, calling the Old Ones Gods wasn't quite right either, Kolasi had only ever fought one, but everything about it had felt wrong. Like a crime against the laws of nature itself; and yet the Will of Fire called to her, to fight, to smash it to pieces and burn the rest to ashes. She had been a child, but even then she had known that nothing compared to the threat that monster had posed.

It had spread madness, like a disease, wherever it went. Kolasi had felt it, the very land itself had become contaminated and so the last thing Kolasi had been forced to do was burn the entire place to the ground. She had almost enjoyed purging the Ardwyrs and their temple city.

But what she had been forced to do just to defeat the Old One had shown her the truth.

The hard truth, that even with the Will of Fire, and as powerful as she was. The Old Ones were stronger, and if they were going to win. She would need others like her.

This revelation had led to her asking Hestia if there were any other mortals or immortals who possessed the Will of Fire. A question Hestia had been happy to answer, and the answer had hung in the air almost like music to Kolasi's ears.

Yes.

Of course Kolasi had wanted to know where these other users were, but rather than learn their names, Kolasi was treated to another kind of revelation.

Which occurred when her mother and uncles realized that something had happened at a place called 'Camp Half-Blood'. If anything, they had been rather frantic about it ever since.

Which led to her current predicament.

According to her mother, something had to have gone wrong on Olympus for something like this to have happened. Which had led to them trying to contact Olympus, only for more panic and chaos to ensue when they realized they couldn't get in contact with any of the other Gods.

Hestia, Poseidon and Hades vowed to take the two girls and the injured boy to Olympus, but Hestia had requested that Kolasi go to 'Camp Half-Blood' and find the members of some prophecy before bringing them to Olympus.

Kolasi had been happy to oblige, it had meant time away from her family, which was silly, given she had been imprisoned for thousands of years. But it's not like she was waiting desperately to spend time with them…

All these thoughts and recollections swirled about in her mind as she stood by the edge of the forest.

She wasn't even sure how she felt…

What was normal to feel in this situation? She was certainly happy to be free of that accursed room, but she had been rescued not because they regretted their actions. No, instead they felt like they had no choice.

Not that they had given her much of one, simply by breaking the wards and using her powers the way she had, Hestia had put every living thing on this planet in danger. Not that Kolasi really cared, what did she owe to any of them.

Most of it could burn to ash as far as she was concerned. After all, it was strange seeing the world once more, it was unfamiliar and nothing like the idyllic paradise she had known in her childhood.

Everything felt so different, the air was filthy. She could almost taste the smoke, and she longed for the world she had left behind thousands of years ago. One with unending forests, lakes and mountains as far as the eye could see.

And without a single one of the hideous human cities to mar its beauty, because the strange glowing gray and silver blobs that were scattered across the Anatolian plain were nothing short of that. Hideous.

But she was free, and that was worth the taste of ash in her mouth. She was finally free from that accursed room.

She could feel the blades of grass withering under her feet, as each droplet of dew evaporated on contact with her skin.

The sound of the birds in the air, and the gentle breeze blowing across the open plains was like a dream half forgotten as she giggled slightly and spun about in a circle. Her eyes closed as she just enjoyed the experience.

And if she herself was happy to be free, well then the Will of Fire was overjoyed.

It was like a roaring inferno in her chest, begging to be unleashed, and she wasn't going to keep it waiting any longer.

With a primal scream, somewhere between joy and anger she launched herself into the air, her skin exploding into flames as she did so.

For an instant her world was fire and nothing else, every part of her igniting to fuel the ever growing ball of fire around her.

Then it was as if she was looking down upon a patchwork quilt, the feeling of air rushing across her scales, the roar of the Will of Fire in her chest as she streaked across the skies, her wings trailing fire behind her as she let out a roar of satisfaction.

FREE.

After thousands of years she was free, and the desire to fly to the ends of the world was immense. However, she had a score to settle and that meant she had to get in the same room as her dear uncle.

So that she could properly demonstrate how much she appreciated being locked away and betrayed by her own family.

Which of course drew her back to the promise she had made to her mother, not that it was binding on the Styx or any other god or goddess. But unlike her uncle, Kolasi refused to be the one to break her word, especially to her mother.

So as a favor to her mother, for undoing the spell that held her bound, she was going to play nice. Which was a bit of an unfortunate setback. After all, she wouldn't truly be happy until Zeus's head was on a pike, or burnt to cinders, she wasn't entirely sure which sounded better yet.

But priorities were equally important.

So first things first, she needed allies. When she had been tricked into that cave it had been explained that she was a symbol for a power they didn't understand. And in her naivety she had allowed Zeus and the others to walk her into the cell without a fight.

Because of her actions, she would remain there as a prisoner to ensure peace between the pantheons. She was powerful, too powerful for some of the Gods with fragile little egos to handle. This time would be different however, she wasn't a child anymore, but neither was she about to try and fight the majority of the Godly pantheons on her own, she wanted allies.

She had spent millennia locked away in that cave, she wasn't sure how long exactly. And in all the time she had spent imprisoned, she had nothing and no one; except for the Will of Fire that is.

With a deep roar, she accelerated forwards across the ocean, each beat of her massive wings sending huge bursts of steam into the air as the water below her vaporized.

Kolasi had spent thousands of years honing her control over the power, and had even garnered certain knowledge, unknown to her mother and the Gods relating to the subject. Not that it would matter, the only users of the Will of Fire she knew of were herself, her mother and the 'Demigod' at this Camp Half-Blood place.

However, as she drew closer and closer to the place her mother had described, she couldn't help but feel a strange pressure building in the air. What was worse were the over abundance of the horrible looking human cities, glowing and spewing smoke into the clean night air.

The largest of which was just visible as a blur of light on the horizon from the height she was flying at. She didn't know exactly what it was she was looking for, but Hestia had explained that she would know what it was, as soon as she found it, and all she had to do was find the piece of shoreline her mother had shown her.

It didn't take long before she discovered exactly what Hestia had meant. As soon as she found the island jutting out into the ocean, she felt the presence of intense divine energy. Like a sort of shell surrounding a portion of the island's north shore.

Whatever the pressure was, it was clearly meant as a way of protecting something, and for a moment it felt like she was flying into mud. Every movement was a struggle, then she got frustrated. Almost lazily she directed her thought at the barrier itself.

Flames lit up the early morning sky all around her as the very air caught fire, tendrils of flame snaking across the invisible surface of the barrier as a rainbow of sparks rained down onto the campsite far below her.

The barrier resisted, she could feel something trying to prevent her entry, but whoever had built the barrier, had not built it to contain anything like her. Mostly because there wasn't anyone else like her.

With a surge of fire, and a casual swipe of her talons, the barrier tore apart. Sending arcs of energy crackling out around her as she immediately fell through the hole, allowing her body to ignite as her limbs shrunk, her fangs and claws disappeared, and her scales fell away to reveal her tanned skin.

Kolasi felt utterly at peace as the wind roared around her. She could feel hundreds of mortals, mortals with divine ichor present in their blood. Kolasi could see the utter ruination that had been dealt to the surrounding landscape, it looked like a massive battle had been fought here.

She spun out of the air, her body still shrinking as she dove towards the ground, not slowing at all as she plummeted down out of the heavens. Kolasi's entire form was engulfed in flames as she spun weightlessly.

Until, just moments before impact she threw her wings wide and landed soft enough. The impact only sent a small wave of fire rolling outwards as the ground rumbled and shook for a moment.

When the haze of smoke and debris cleared Kolasi looked around at the dozens of children, all of whom clutched weapons as they looked at her in fear.

For a moment she stood there watching them, her golden eyes alight with anger as she looked around the group. There didn't seem to be a single adult among them, which meant that after all this time her dearest uncle was still sending children to fight on his behalf.

Kolasi swept her gaze across the assembled demigods, looking for a leader.

It didn't take long to find one.

"Who the fuck are you!?" Came the angry growl from a black haired teenager wearing a silver cloak of some sort.

"A friend" she replied with a grin as she looked at the newcomer.

"Okay that means literally nothing to me, and you don't look like any God I've ever seen before… So who or what are you and why are you here?" The girl asked again, looking more exhausted than anything else.

"Well let's start simply, I'm not a God, well not the kind of thing you're thinking of at least." Kolasi said with a grin as she walked up towards the girl. "And more importantly, I'm the one asking the questions. I'm looking for a group of demigods known as the Seven? My mother sent me here to collect them so to speak…"

Instantly several male and female demigods from the group looked her way, confusion and shock playing across their faces. "Like any of us would go anywhere with you, For all we know you're working with Gaea or the Giants!"

"Listen, it's great that you understand the threat I could pose, but I'm in a hurry. So how about for now, you trust that I'm going to take you to Olympus?" Kolasi said with a sigh as she looked at the wary demigods.

The girl in front of her glared right back at her, lightning arcing off her skin as she pointed a spear in her direction. "How about no." She replied.

Kolasi was frustrated, after all she really didn't want to be here acting like a babysitter for half mortals. No, instead she wanted to go find that Ardwyr, or kill Zeus. To be honest both options were equally appealing, but at the moment she needed to show Hestia and the other Olympians that she could play nice… which meant she couldn't just burn a few of them to ashes to shut the rest up.

With another heavy sigh Kolasi looked at the girl, "And what exactly can I do to prove to you that I'm here to do exactly that? Hestia and the other Olympian's are waiting for you on Olympus, what's more they're waiting for me…."

"And why would Hestia of all the Gods send you to come get us?" A small boy with curly black hair asked from the sidelines.

"Because, some blonde son of Zeus had his arm ripped off, and the Olympians are more concerned with keeping him alive than anything else at the moment. So you get to deal with me" Kolasi said with a half hearted smile.

Instantly the boy and the girl from before lunged towards her, "What was his name!? When? Where?" they shouted almost in unison as a barrage of questions were hurled Kolasi's way.

"Tsk tsk" Kolasi said as she shook her head back and forth, "Did your mother never teach you any manners? Names and Introductions come first…" Kolasi replied with a grin, "I'll go first, Kolasi, Daughter of Hestia and Tharros, also known as the Lady of Dragons…" As she finished speaking Kolasi willed several roaring pillars of fire into existence.

The roar accompanied by a blast of heat from the fire was almost soothing to her as she looked over the demigods around her. Several of them clustered together in fear, while others looked at her, their eyes filled with hope.

"All right, cut it out!" The girl shouted from the front as she tried to calm down a panicking demigod beside her, "These kids have been through enough! We get it, We know who you are now! Can you just put out the fires!"

"I do believe it's rude to leave someone waiting dear," Kolasi said as she inspected her nails on one hand, before she leveled her gaze towards the demigods again. "So, are you the seven demigods I've been told to come fetch?"

"Yes! My name is Thalia, daughter of Zeus… and these are the rest of the members of the prophecy, at least the ones here…." Thalia finished angrily as she gestured towards: Reyna, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Nico and Rachel. All of whom had moved up and introduced themselves before moving to stand beside her as Thalia faced down Kolasi, a fierce glare on her face.

A look that was matched by several of the members of the seven, their hands hovering near their weapons as they looked at her with uncertainty. Not that it mattered much anyway, a tilt of her head and the flaming pillars sputtered and died out, leaving the air hot and filled with steam.

"As for your earlier questions, I don't know." Kolasi replied as the look on Thalia's face morphed into an anger filled glare. While Kolasi looked at her in amusement, "Don't misunderstand, I had met him only a few minutes prior to my mother whisking him back to Olympus… But he was alive when they left. As for how he's doing now, that's anyone's guess."

"Take me to him now!" Thalia growled out as the demigods began to move closer.

"You're hardly in the place to make any demands, girl," Kolasi replied with a feral grin as she looked down on the furious daughter of Zeus. "You were so adamant not to come with me before, I wouldn't want to force you…" Kolasi said with a small smile on her face.

Admittedly, Kolasi was enjoying riling her up, after all. As a child of Zeus, the girl was lucky Kolasi didn't roast her on the spot.

Thalia for her part stood motionless, her face slowly going more and more red as she glared at her. Waiting while Kolasi simply looked around the clearing, admiring the trees and plants with interest.

For a few more moments there was silence as Thalia and the rest of the Demigods looked at her in shock, before the one called Frank spoke up. "D-didn't you say you were here to take us to Olympus…. Not to be rude or anything, but, what's the hold up?"

"Hold up? I don't quite know what you mean, but your friend" Kolasi said as she gestured towards Thalia, "Made it very clear she didn't want to come with me, and that none of you would either. I don't offer my help twice, so off you go. Find your own way back, I'm going to admire some of this new world, before I return to Olympus."

"Okay are you here to help us or not?" a voice called out as Kolasi turned and saw the short demigod with curly black hair standing to her left. Embers were floating off his skin as he looked at her angrily. "Stop wasting time and take us to Olympus already… I want to know why the Gods left us alone to deal with this shit…" He growled out as his hands burst into flame.

Kolasi froze, fire manipulation wasn't uncommon, but that's not what this was. She could feel the Will of Fire present. Writhing like some wild animal within the boy. Without a word Kolasi closed the distance in a few steps until she was mere inches from him.

"Who are you?" She asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Leo Valdez… Son of Hephaestus…" Leo replied in an uncertain voice as sweat broke out across his face. Kolasi simply leaned in closer to inspect his eyes, which were ringed with flames at the moment.

"H-hey Lady.. there's such a thing as p-personal space.. HEY!" Leo shouted as he stumbled back away from her, unfortunately for him he didn't get far, as her hand lashed out and grabbed Leo by the chin, holding him in place as she looked into his eyes.

"How long have you had it?" Kolasi asked, unable to deny how curious she was.

"How long have I had what?" Leo spluttered out as his face went the same color and shade as a tomato.

"The Will of Fire… You have a connection to it… but you're a mortal, why would it pick you of all people?" Kolsai muttered as she turned Leo's head forcefully from one side to the other, inspecting him like a piece of meat as she tried to understand why he had been chosen.

"Alright lady, hands off!" Thalia shouted as a strange metal cylinder quickly expanded into a long bronze spear, which was crackling with electricity, Aegis materializing on her left hand.

Kolasi smiled in her direction before releasing Leo, " You have a great gift… I'd be more than happy to show you how to use it. All you need to do is ask, after all my mother did warn me that there was a 'demigod' who possessed the Will within this little camp of yours. My mother may have noticed your gift, but I'm far stronger than her . I can show you how to do more than you ever thought possible… All you need to do is ask." Kolsai said as she flashed a brilliant smile at Leo.

Leo seemed incapable of coherent speech or thought, his face was beet red and any time he tried to speak, he just ended up stuttering and stumbling over himself. Which of course was hilarious to watch, Kolasi wasn't sure if he was actually scared of her, or just intimidated by the way she was acting.

Not that it really mattered.

"Okay, so great Valdez has a date… wonderful, moving forwards and I'm glad that's sorted. Can you please leave him alone and take us to Olympus already!" Thalia shouted in frustration as she pointed to the sky with her spear.

"Sorry, what was that?" Kolasi said with an innocent look on her face.

"... Why you lit-" Thalia all but growled out, as she leveled the spear in Kolasi's direction.

Kolasi leveled a look at her, and instantly the bronze spear she was holding started glowing red as Thalia yelped in pain and dropped the spear to the ground. For a moment Kolasi looked at it, before she bent down and casually picked it up. Swirling the cherry red piece of metal over in one hand.

Then, the spear spun to a halt, as Kolasi gripped it with both hands, and tilted her head slightly to one side.

Almost at the same time the entire spear went from red to white hot, as thick globs of molten metal began to roll down her arms and hands, dripping to the ground beneath her.

Within seconds all that remained of the spear, was a lump of molten metal on the ground. Kolasi meanwhile brushed some of the remaining bronze off of her skin as she looked Thalia in the eyes. "Just so you know, I can do the same to people. Everything burns away if you make the fire hot enough." Kolasi added in a dark tone.

Several of the demigods looked back and forth between them, waiting to see which one of them would move first. And while Thalia grit her teeth and looked at her in rage, Kolasi just smiled back coldly.

"... Can you please take us to Olympus…" Thalia grunted out between clenched teeth.

"I can" Kolasi replied evenly, "But this is just so entertaining, and my uncles are so boring… would you believe they don't even look different? Thousands of years I spent trapped in a fucking room, and they look the exact same as they did when they locked me away." Kolsai finished with a long sigh.

"But if you insist…. that's why I was sent here after all… I'd recommend everyone else back up…." Kolasi added as she leveled a deadpan glare towards the rest of the demigods who were chattering away nervously around them.

All of them noticed the flames licking the edges of her arms and legs as they scrambled backwards in a frenzy. "The rest of you need to come a little closer, you in specific." Kolasi said with a grin as she grabbed Leo and dragged him over to stand beside her.

"Consider this your first lesson little 'demigod', a demonstration of what you can truly do if you're willing to learn" Kolasi said with a smile as suddenly the air around them was swirling with cinders, appearing as if from nothing as they spun faster and faster around them.

All around her screams from the campers and the demigods standing beside her were nearly drowned out by the roar of the fire which was spiraling high into the air above them.

Then as if by some hidden signal the demigods all began to glow a reddish gold as embers floated off their skin while Kolasi giggled looking at the stunned expression on Leo's face.

"I know you can feel the power coursing through the air itself, but trust me that's nothing compared to what comes next" Kolasi called out laughing as the embers burst into flame at her command, and all at once her vision was obscured by smoke and fire.

The demigods screamed in panic as Kolasi giggled and closed her eyes, knowing that when she opened them once more, she would see the gleaming white marble city of Olympus for perhaps the third time in her entire life.

Annabeth 4 Days and 5 Hours & 30 Minutes After Eripus

The air on Olympus was cold, and filled with the sweet scent of the many gardens and parks that were scattered around it.

The sights and sounds of the city of the Gods would normally have filled her with excitement, like a child. However, this time she was simply filled with dread, it ate away at her resolve with every step she took towards the throne room.

But she refused to allow herself to falter, every moment she wasted was one more that he got farther from her. She wasn't going to sit here and wait for him to come to his senses, whatever happened was no joke.

Percy was loyal to a fault, for something to have convinced him to actually fight against Olympus? Well, Annabeth knew only one Olympian, who could fuck up so royally as to turn their greatest hero against them!

Zeus.

There was no way that any God besides that prideful jackass could have caused this mess. After all, he was the reason the Ardwyr and the Gods came into direct conflict in the first place. So it would make sense that he messed shit up again Annabeth thought darkly.

Almost unconsciously she was gripping the hilt of the bronze sword she carried as she marched towards the throne room, up the long main road towards the summit of Mt. Olympus.

"Annabeth, listen we can't just barge in there! It's a council meeting!" Piper called out from behind her as the girl struggled to keep up with the pace Annabeth was setting. Frank had stopped to hurl again, the sensation of Kolasi's fire flashing had been the most unsettling thing Annabeth had ever witnessed. For Frank and some of the others though, it had been too much.

"I really don't care about that right now, Piper… I have questions and I want answers, now." Annabeth replied seriously. "They can resume their council meeting once I have what I want. They owe me that much… and Kolasi left us at that temple over an hour ago… I'm done waiting"

"Okay and that's great, but we kind of need to talk first Annabeth… you of all people should know we can't just wing this one!" Piper called out anxiously. "There is too much at stake!"

"No… Annabeth is right, I want answers…. people died Piper… a lot of people…" Hazel said angrily as she gripped her spatha's hilt so tightly, that her knuckles were white. "I don't care who the Gods think they are… I'm not going to turn a blind eye to this.."

"Under normal circumstances, those words would be considered treason Hazel,… but given everything that's going on.. I don't know what to think anymore." Reyna added emotionlessly. "But your friend is right, the Gods owe us an answer, that field is drenched in Roman blood and I want to know why." Reyna finished as she looked around the group.

"Okay I know! Don't make it out like I'm ignoring that fact, but shouldn't we at least have our story straight? All of us! Before we go in there half cocked!?" Piper said desperately as she looked at Annabeth. "You're always saying we should have a plan, well I don't see how we can have one if we aren't all on the same page!" Piper added with frustration

"Shut up!" Thalia growled out, her body still covered in cuts and scratches, her clothes covered in mud and other filth as she walked towards the council hall with a look in her eyes that spelled doom for anything or anyone who got in her way. "They made us wait for hours, after we fought a fucking battle that made Manhattan look like a play fight! I'm done waiting, if those doors don't open up right now, I'm blasting them off their fucking hinges…" she added with venom as she glared at the throne room high above them.

"Okay look, the whole angry goth girl thing is kind of getting old.." Piper replied sarcastically as she glanced at Thalia, moving faster as she did so in order to stay beside Annabeth.

"My brother just had his arm torn off…. My camp was burned half to the ground, and four of our Gods were beaten to shit, not to mention that around a hundred of us died, Roman or Greek doesn't even matter anymore. We still have to burn their shrouds… So unless you want to explain to me how that fucking happened you can shut up, or I will make you, either way works for me…" Thalia added murderously as she turned to Piper, the air took on the scent of ozone.

Reyna however simply walked over and laid a hand on Thalia's shoulder, "I am just as angry over your brother's fate as you are. But fighting amongst ourselves won't make this go away." Reyna added as she moved to stand between Thalia and Piper.

"But it'll make me feel better about it all…" Thalia added with an angry glare. One that Reyna matched as the two girls squared up in front of each other. If only for a moment it appeared as if the two would actually come to blows. Before Thalia finally snorted in disdain and turned away from Reyna. "Watch your mouth McLean… you won't always have Reyna here willing to fight for you…"

"Cut it out Thalia…. We don't need to fight among ourselves right now." Annabeth said in a dull voice as she walked towards the large doors, with Thalia at her side. Throwing a quick glance over her shoulder at the other demigods trailing behind them. "I know exactly who to blame this time around" Annabeth finished calmly as she continued her march towards the throne room.

"And who exactly is that Annabeth?…." Nico said in a weak and tired voice as he trudged alongside them. A quick glance in his direction revealed a devastated and disheveled looking Nico, clutching the blackened sword, Riptide. In both hands as his head hung low. "The camp's a fucking mess, I don't even know how many of our friends are dead… I don't understand what went wrong. Who the fuck was that lunatic!? Why didn't the Gods intervene sooner!?" Nico half shouted in anger as several nymphs and lesser gods looked at the group of demigods with interest and perhaps a little bit of fear.

"If you know who's responsible for this Annabeth, you owe it to us to tell us what's going on!" Thalia said angrily, "I watched dozens of campers and legionnaires die a few hours ago… and they deserve vengeance."

"Yes they do, and we know who to take vengeance on… That insane Ardwyr guy.." Frank said with a frown on his face as he looked at the rest of them. "I don't understand what the problem is, it's not like this is anything new. We've fought dozens of enemies of Olympus and beaten them all." Frank said without hesitation.

"Unless you have a secret inherited ability that lets you regenerate from a bloody smear on the ground I don't think any of us stand much of a chance." Leo added angrily as he looked at the ground, "You saw what he did to Ares man… and as much as I want to punch him in the face for what happened….. You can't deny that he killed six of those Titans."

"Titans that were headed for the camps…" Hazel added quietly, "And he took out both groups…"

"So you're defending him now? I guess it wasn't as bad at camp half-blood… He set off an explosion in the fort that left dozens of legionaries half blind and wounded. That storm he called down? At least a half dozen dead from the lightning strikes alone…" Frank added angrily as he looked at Leo and Hazel, a slight red glow emanating from his skin.

Annabeth was already reaching for her knife at her hip when Leo stepped in.

"Hey man calm down…" Leo added as cinders started to float off his skin. "No need to go all hulk on us, you make a much better Bruce Banner my man." Leo added with a grin as he clapped Frank on the shoulder.

Which was comical in and of itself, since Leo had to almost reach above his own head to touch Frank's shoulder.

"No, all of you are acting like this is a big deal. It's not," Frank said angrily. "Each of us is a member of this prophecy, for better or worse! Which means we are in this for the long haul.." Frank said with frustration as he gestured to each of them in turn. "We have all lost people we loved, family and friends. But this isn't time for us to give up, it's time for us to do what is destined according to the prophecy."

"Destined..?" Thalia spluttered out. "You think this is what was supposed to happen? Look around you Zhang! This is about as fucked up as it could get!" Thalia added as she looked around the group. "Let's take stock, We are a bunch of kids fighting another war on behalf of our shitty parents… and what's worse, is that they don't give a fuck about us… if they did why would they have waited so long to come and help the camps?"

"Get over it Thalia… can you not see there is a bigger picture here!? Yes some demigods died but we can't just shut down. There are people relying on us! Fuck everyone is relying on us to fix this!" Frank shouted back.

"Frank, we have a right to be upset about it…" Leo added cautiously, "We lost so many demigods today. And after everything else; Percy, The New Prophecy, this stupid civil war…"

"No, you guys are making a mockery of their sacrifice… they gave their lives in this fight. Sitting here, whining and bitching about the fact that they died does nothing but distract us from what we should be doing…" Frank finished.

"As rudely as he chose to say it, Zhang isn't wrong. The demigods who died gave their lives in the fight to protect Olympus. If what you are all suggesting is true, and that this is somehow the Gods' fault… it would shatter the faith of everyone left standing, they wouldn't have anything left to fight for." Reyna said with an irritated sigh.

"Oh so what? All those dead demigods don't matter!?" Nico asked in shock. "Frank they were practically family as fucking weird as that is….."

"Oh get over yourselves! Percy is gone! So are all the demigods who died today! Nothing we can do will change that!" The son of Mars growled out as his hands were clenched in fists. "But I'm not going to sit here and question what we should do, if Percy was here… If he was here, we wouldn't be having this conversation. We would already be tracking down that freak and getting ready to kick his ass."

"Yea, let's go fight the guy that single handedly put Artemis, Athena and Ares to bed for nap time…. Think about what you're saying Frank…" Leo added

"I am, and it makes sense. These Ardwyr were beaten by the Gods before!" Frank added as he gestured to everything around them. "If they hadn't won we wouldn't be standing here, so there has to be a way to beat them."

"According to the Olympians, it was mostly Hestia and Kolasi…. They used whatever the Will of Fire is, and they burned Anatolia to ashes, and the Ardwyr alongside it" Annabeth muttered, not really paying attention to the conversation as she waited for everyone to calm down. She wasn't in the mood to fight or to be heard at the moment, and so when they would finally shut up, she would say her piece.

"Great so instead of moping around, we know exactly who to talk to, Hestia or that Kolasi lady….is she uhh as crazy as she seemed?" Frank added sheepishly

"Trust me Frank… it's probably worse than you think, she's half naked, has horns and is pretty much constantly on fire. Oh and she's clearly got a few screws loose…." Piper added in a deadpan voice. "Not to mention that she openly admits how much she hates Zeus…."

Leo's head snapped around as he looked at Piper, "Okay lay off, she's not that bad…"Leo muttered,

"Leo, she's the kind of girl who breaks boys for fun…." Piper muttered angrily.

"Piper, she's here to help, and she clearly doesn't care for the Olympians but she's here anyway. So how about you leave her alone.." Leo replied.

"Leo just because she's hot doesn't mean you need to drool over her…" Piper added.

"Oh get over yourself Piper! That's not it! I mean yes she's hot, but that's not what I'm talking about! There's just something about her…" Leo added in confusion

"Yea she's fucking crazy… listen if you want her man handling you and looking at you like a piece of meat be my guest."

"Oh for fucks sake Piper, she offered to teach me to use the powers Hestia said I have, she won't teach me because she swore not to use them… So who else can I find to teach me? Seriously, who?" Leo said angrily as he looked at Piper.

"Just because I can joke around doesn't mean I don't know when to be serious Piper… This has nothing to do with her, and everything to do with the powers she offered to teach me to control." Leo added in frustration.

"How did you even meet her Piper?" Reyna asked with a slight edge in her voice, "You weren't at camp with us when she came to 'collect' us…"

"Yea, well, she showed up with Hestia and the other Olympians…. And trust me Leo, before you get any bright ideas, she is obsessed with that Ardwyr, so don't even bother trying to tell me she's here to help us. After Hades and Poseidon left with Jason, it is all she could talk to Hestia about." Piper finished. "You might think she wants to help you, but all she wants is that Ardwyr.."

"Alright, want to fill me in on what kind of vacation the three of you were on?" Frank added angrily as he turned on Piper. "Cause from the sounds of it the three of you were off in the middle of nowhere while the camps were under attack."

"Careful Zhang…. That sounds a lot like an accusation… and you should remember my brother had his arm torn off in your so called 'middle of nowhere' so watch your fucking mouth." Thalia finished with a glare as she watched the son of Mars.

"Oh so it's not suspicious at all that Jason and Annabeth get help from three Olympians and whoever Kolasi is. But the rest of us get to watch our friends die while we wait for help?" Frank added in frustration.

"Fuck off Frank, it was bad everywhere.. You don't have a monopoly on being angry, but at least be smart about it." Rachel added with a red eyed glare "Hazel and Leo are right, the Ardwyr saved our asses… and if you think Jason's got the better deal, go get yourself beaten half to death and have your arm torn off…. ."

Frank opened his mouth as if to reply, but seemed to think the better of it instead simply nodded his head under the fierce gaze of Thalia and shut up.

"This argument is pointless…" Reyna growled out "What happened is done, we can't go back and change it, so why bother fighting about it! We have more important things to worry about, like the fact that Gaea is still going to rise according to the prophecy!"

"Let's not forget that the Ardwyr killed dozens of us, I don't care if we can't change it, I'm not going to forget it happened…" Nico added dryly, "We can't afford to lose anymore demigods, First Percy…. Now this!?" He went on to speak again, but suddenly seemed to lose the will to go on and just hung his head in silence.

Annabeth was listening calmly as she could while the rest of the nine were reduced to bickering amongst themselves. Which left her plenty of time to watch those around them.

Specifically the Gods and other immortals who were watching them.

They were walking along the side of one of the larger roads which led through the main market and up towards the Throne room, of course, not without several large detours in order to force those walking the path to meander past the grand temples and gardens.

However, she noticed several figures in darker colored gray and silver robes with accents of green and brown along the trim standing nearby. And while they might not have been actively watching them, during the last five minutes they had simply milled about nearby, casting furtive glances towards them when they thought no one was watching.

"Listen if we are going to blame anyone, it's the Titans and that immortal Ardwyr freak for deciding to host deathmatch for immortals in between our two camps." Leo added jokingly, "They could have taken it anywhere else, I mean literally anywhere else but right between us."

"He bled red blood, He's not immortal… at least not the way the gods are" Hazel and Piper said at almost the same moment looking at each other in confusion, mouths agape. Before Piper turned around and looked Annabeth dead in the eyes. "And this is why we all need to talk before we storm into the throne room and start demanding shit from our angry and temperamental parents?" Piper finished with a huff.

The words hung over the group as they all looked at each other.

"... Fine…" Thalia added, "If all it takes to make Barbie shut up is a quick conversation so as to ensure that we're all on the same page, then let's do it. But I'm not here to waste time, make it quick so we can get up there and rip my dad's head off…" Thalia muttered darkly as the skies rumbled overhead.

Annabeth sighed as another fresh round of bickering sparked amongst the younger demigods, leaving Annabeth to focus on everything and anything but them.

Without a word Annabeth simply turned and walked down the alleyway behind herself, following it a short distance to an enclosed garden, peering inside to look for dryads before she walked in and sat down on one of the low stone benches in the middle of the flower garden.

One by one the demigods followed her with confused looks on their faces, as Annabeth gestured for them to sit on the grass or on the benches around her.

For a moment there was silence as Annabeth pondered where she should begin, or even how to begin telling her side of the story. And for a minute or two there was nothing but silence in the small garden courtyard.

"Percy isn't dead…." Annabeth muttered softly.

The change in mood was instant, with most of the members of the seven looking at her with sympathy. All except for Hazel, who was looking at her in sheer horror.

"A-annabeth… we all miss him but Percy is-" Nico started to say.

"... Alive…." Hazel added, cutting Nico off as she walked towards Annabeth, the younger girl's face twisted between sorrow and morbid curiosity.

"Hazel… I know how much he meant to you but we all saw it in the throne room! Nyx stabbed him in the chest…" Nico added softly as he looked at Hazel, his eyes filled with pain.

"But what if he didn't…." Annabeth added quickly, "What if he wasn't dead, what if it was something worse…"

Annabeth was pretty sure she could hear her own heart hammering in her chest, the immensity of what she was about to say, the repercussions it would have. They were too massive for her to even think about right now, all that mattered was that her friends, Percy's friends knew the truth.

While she was lost in thought, a heavy silence fell over the garden. Leaving it deathly quiet, save for the gentle rustle of the leaves in the breeze.

It was almost as if everyone had forgotten how to breathe as they looked at her, confusion, hope, joy.. All expressions she was going to have to crush into dust under her heel with a healthy portion of truth, something the demigods rarely got.

"He's not dead, He made a deal with Nyx to bring me back…." Annabeth said softly as a gentle breeze rustled the leaves in the trees nearby. "Don't ask me how, I don't know how it happened."

"Annabeth… no one save my father has the power to do what you are talking about…" Nico replied in confusion.

"No one? Did the Gods not tell us exactly who can mimic their powers…" Annabeth replied. "An Ardwyr could do it, given the power that they held."

"And? I don't see what…." Nico started to say before he froze mid sentence and looked at Annabeth wide eyed. "... no… No, Even if you were right, why would he fight?! Why are you even suggesting it! It doesn't make any sense" Nico raged at her almost instantly. The shadows around them licking the sides of the marble walls.

"And if I told you that his mother was one… would that change your mind." Annabeth added in a sympathetic voice as she looked at Nico sadly.

Frank and Leo just looked confused as they glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Okay at the risk of sounding dumb I'll start; Are you actually trying to suggest that …Percy is the one who revived you and that it was possible because he's an Ardwyr?" Frank added sarcastically before he chuckled, "Because that's insane, Percy would never turn on Olympus… and I'm sure the Gods would have realized he was an Ardywr long before now."

Annabeth opened her mouth to reply but the sudden crackle of electricity paired with the sudden stench of ozone in the air signaled Thalia, her best friend. Correction, her crazy best friend, was about to lose her shit.

"What are you talking about Annie… If it's a joke it's not a fucking funny one, and if it isn't a joke you have some serious explaining to do before I believe a word you say! Percy was the best of us! Why would he turn on Olympus, he loves his father, he would never turn on the Gods!" Thalia shouted at her.

"You're not wrong.. Percy loves his father, but he loved his mother more…" Annabeth added as she felt the heavy weight of guilt settle on her shoulders. "W-we went to check on her, and we ran into some of Percy's extended family…" Annabeth finished as she was struggling to hold back tears.

"What do you mean, he loved his mother more? Sally's not… no… NO!" Thalia shouted out in desperation as she slammed her hand into one of the trees in the garden. Calling down a lightning bolt in the process, which slammed into the tree, setting it ablaze, however, Thalia barely moved, she barely even seemed to notice as she glared at the ground between her feet.

"Okay hold up a second, His mom is dead!?" Leo said as he looked frantically between Nico and Thalia, both of whom looked like they were ready to collapse to the ground.

"Okay but what does that have to do with anything!? No offense, but my grandmother died, Hazel's mom died, Leo's mom died. We have all lost family to Gaea and her bullshit. Why does his mother dying mean that the Ardwyr is Percy?" Frank asked in a frustrated voice.

"Even if he was the Ardwyr, why would he attack the Gods? Wouldn't he want vengeance on the person who killed his mother? Instead of kicking the shit out of a few Olympians?" Frank finished quietly.

"Well, Percy is convinced the Olympians did it…" Annabeth started to say before all hell broke loose.

"Wait, you've seen him!?" Thalia shouted out

"When! Where?" Nico added desperately as he rushed forwards.

"Okay everyone slow down I feel like I've missed some important stuff" Leo said quickly as he looked between them all.

Annabeth for her part was on the verge of tears, discussing why her boyfriend went on a homicidal rampage was not at the top of her to-do list. In fact, it was pretty close to dead last. But, she owed it to the rest of the seven, to Thalia and to Nico. This entire mess had stemmed from the Gods trying to use them like puppets. To enact their will, Annabeth refused to let another one of her friends, another one of her family to fall prey to that.

"All of you, Shut up and Sit down!" Piper called out as her voice seemed to echo in the air, the compulsion from the charmspeak alone almost made Annabeth fall over. It was so potent it actually took her nearly ten seconds to figure out how to speak again. During which time, the rest of the Demigods either stared at Piper in confusion or anger. The daughter of Aphrodite shrugged and gestured towards Annabeth.

"Yes we saw Percy, and it was about as bad as it could have possibly gone. Sally sacrificed herself to save us, fighting his grandfather, and gave us his sister to escape with, hoping that we could keep her out of his hands." Annabeth said haltingly.

"When we escaped we arrived on some beach, and for a few hours it was fine. Then Percy and some of the biggest hellhounds I've ever seen showed up." Annabeth continued as she took a deep breath. "When he showed up, Jason attacked him, it was like with the Eidolons before, he wasn't fully in control. But the damage was done."

"What do you mean?" Thalia said as she looked at Annabeth, a devastated expression on her face.

"We fled the scene of his mother's murder, with his sister in tow. Then we attacked him, and that makes it so much worse. Because, as soon as Percy showed up, Jason blasted Percy with one of the biggest lightning bolts I've ever seen him summon. He left Jason alive, not even that badly injured, just a punch in the gut and knee on his chest. But Jason took that mercy and while Percy was distracted talking with us, Jason shot him in the back with a 12 gauge shotgun…..twice….. So if you can think of some way that it could have gone worse…. be my guest Thalia ..." Piper added suddenly as she walked forwards. Stopping beside Annabeth as she turned around to face the group,

The looks of fear, confusion and understanding mixed with looks of anger and horror as the demigods slowly processed Piper's words.

"I still don't see how it's possible!" Nico cried out, "If what you're saying is true, not only did the greatest warrior and leader we have turn against us, but Jason provoked it!?" Nico added as he threw riptide across the garden angrily. "I'm gonna finish what Percy started and skin that little blonde shit head."

"Over my dead body Nico… that's my brother…" Thalia growled out.

"AND PERCY IS AS CLOSE TO A BROTHER AS I HAVE! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION YOUR BROTHER SHOT HIM IN THE FUCKING BACK!" Nico screamed at Thalia.

"Okay guys, I think it's time we simmered down a little bit here…" Leo added hesitantly as he looked at the shadow tendrils forming around Nico, and the arcs of lightning leaping off Thalia's skin, yet that did little to calm either of the two enraged demigods.

"Both of you stop…" Annabeth called out. "Do you really think I told any of you this so that you could blame each other and turn the fight on yourselves!?" Annabeth added in irritation. "NO!" she shouted as she looked at each of them.

Her gaze finally came to rest on Thalia and Nico, "I told you all what I know because there's still a chance we can fix this! We can figure out what happened to Sally, and what the Olympians did, if anything… and once we know for sure what we are dealing with, then we can make a decision about what we are going to do…" Annabeth finished confidently.

"And if our goals don't align with Olympus?" Reyna asked cautiously.

"Fuck them… they treat their kids like ammunition, they throw us to the wolves in this never ending fight and they act as if we should be grateful for the opportunity to die for them!" Annabeth added as she started pacing in front of them.

"Can you honestly tell me that any of you wanted this? Wanted to watch your friends and family die, all because of who your mother or father is?" Annabeth continued as she tried to make them understand. "I wanted a life, I wanted something normal and I thought I would get it after all this time…I did everything they wanted, I was an idiot…"

"We live by the sword Annabeth… we are the children of the Gods and we uphold their legacy…" Reyna replied, but even Annabeth could hear the emptiness of those words as Reyna spoke them. "We are the last defense that mortals have against our world…. This is just our lot in life"

"Bullshit…." Piper said in a venomous voice, "The Gods could do this just as easily, but instead they hide behind some laws that they themselves wrote! How are you okay with this Reyna? Dozens of Romans died today and you're going to chalk it up to the fact that we 'Live by the sword'?... Why do seven year olds need to live by the sword Reyna…"

"It's just the way that it is! It's been like this for a thousand years, Mclean… I don't know what you expect me to do! My hands are as tied as yours are…." Reyna finished as she hung her head with a sigh.

Annabeth closed her eyes, trying to ignore the pounding headache, and the exhaustion that wracked her body. The frustration and anger she felt about this whole situation was starting to get to her. But she couldn't stop now, "There's more as well."

"What else could there possibly be Annabeth" Nico said with a strained laugh, "You've already dropped a bomb on us once tonight. What else could have possibly happened?" he finished as the rest of the demigods turned to look at her.

"... None of what I am about to say here can be repeated to anyone, not yet." Annabeth said as she looked around the group, noticing their curiosity on their faces, mixed with the anger and grief. "Someone is manipulating this from behind the scenes, and before you ask I don't think it's Gaea."

No one made a sound as they all stared at her in shock. "When we went to get Sally, she gave us this book and an amulet." Annabeth said as she slowly pulled out the leather-bound book and the necklace.

The book was small, perhaps the size of a diary, and contained dozens of yellowing pages, covered in handwritten notes. The amulet on the other hand, appeared almost brand new, made of some sort of black oily metal trimmed with bits of silver and depicting a snarling wolf.

Annabeth held both items aloft and showed them to the demigods, "Sally told me that her father had a plan, she never said what. But based solely on what she implied it's not good, like the end of the world kind of not good. And she said that she had faith I could follow the path, and perhaps stop him…"

A low groan escaped several of the group, most notably Leo who was looking at her in despair. "So there's ANOTHER evil asshole out to get us?"

Annabeth shook her head, "No, no I think it's all connected somehow. Sally's father kept talking about how he had a plan for Percy, and that he wasn't going to let Sally get in the way. They started fighting, sure, but it didn't seem like he wanted to kill her." Annabeth finished as she tucked the diary and amulet back into her jacket.

"But when Percy showed up, he had a sword from the apartment, and was claiming that the Gods killed his mother. He said that Dionysus had admitted that the council sent us to find her… And now she's missing and I would assume so is any trace of her father…" Annabeth added as the group stared at her in silence.

"So what do we do then? Do we tell the Gods?" Frank asked cautiously.

"No… no, whoever is doing this. They planned this out, there's no way all of this is coincidental. Percy getting stuck in Tartarus, Gaea rising, the new prophecy. It's all too well timed, even for the amount of crap we have to put up with on a normal basis. We can't tell the Gods and risk them ruining our one chance at fixing this." Annabeth said, her voice filled with determination.

"What do you mean?" Hazel asked in confusion, "Shouldn't we let the Gods help us..?"

"That's exactly what we should do, but also why we can't. Whoever is behind this managed to turn Percy against the Gods, somehow convinced him that the Gods turned on his mother. We need to prove that it didn't happen, or at least not in the way Percy thinks it did." Annabeth replied.

"Okay so why not tell Poseidon or one of the more receptive Gods, they could help!" Nico replied

"Yes, but what if we are just playing right into their hands? No, we need to figure this out ourselves, we can't risk giving them the upper hand again. And if we inform the Gods about this, they will go off the rails and blow any chance at us tracking down the mastermind behind the scenes." Annabeth finished as she sat down on one of the benches in the garden.

"Sally said she was certain Annabeth could follow the path, so she gave the book and the amulet to her. Sally trusted Annabeth to figure it out, and if she says we don't tell the Gods then I agree." Piper said in a fierce tone, "All they've done for the last few days is fuck shit up, and this whole mess is their fault in the first place… maybe its time they let someone else try and make this right…"

"For once.. I agree with Barbie, fuck dad and the rest of them." Thalia added.

"How about you don't call me that, like ever again…" Piper muttered angrily.

"Nope, I think it suits you" Thalia replied offhandedly.

Annabeth looked between the two, and if it hadn't been for the severity of the situation, she might have actually laughed. The two girls were so similar it was scary, and neither one of them seemed to recognize that fact.

But as long as they could work together, Annabeth didn't really care. Percy needed her, even if he didn't think he did. And Annabeth needed their help to save him, if that meant she had to play babysitter and make them work together, she would.

"So… it's decided then? Do we follow Annabeth's lead on this one?" Frank asked hesitantly as he looked around the group.

"She is the most experienced one among us, and she knows the Gods better than any of us do…" Thalia replied, "If she says we should follow her, I will. And the rest of you would be stupid not to…"

It didn't take long for the rest of the group to agree, one by one each of them nodded their heads and looked at Annabeth, waiting for her to speak.

She knew that this was dangerous, that the enemy they were hunting was something beyond anything she had fought before. But whoever or whatever it was, it stood between her and the life she wanted with Percy.

As far as she was concerned, it didn't stand a chance.

With a drawn out sigh, Annabeth stood up, her aching muscles protesting any kind of movement, her free hand resting on the pommel of her sword as she ran her other hand through her hair.

"Alright, here's the plan….." Annabeth said as the demigods clustered together. First she would explain her plan, then they would go and meet the Olympians.

All she could do was hope. Hope that she knew what she was doing. Hope that everything would turn out okay.

Hope that Percy would forgive her. It was all she had left.

Thalia 4 Days and 5 Hours & 50 Minutes After Eripus

Annabeth was a few feet ahead of her when she pushed the doors to the throne room open, and immediately, Thalia was stunned and speechless at the scene of utter chaos before her.

Zeus stood in the center of the room, his armor torn, his body dripping water and ichor as he held his Master Bolt in one hand, his eyes crackling with lightning as a look of anger plastered across his face.

Poseidon walked forwards and spinning his Trident into an overhand chop he swung the weapon at Zeus's head. The blow was blocked, if only barely, by the Master Bolt, but the impact drove Zeus to one knee as he strained against the enraged God of the Sea whose entire body was glowing with a bright sea green.

"YOU WOULD DARE… I WILL KILL YOU!" Poseidon roared as he launched a kick into Zeus's ribs, the impact sent the God of the Sky hurtling backwards, against the far wall. Shattering the marble columns and carvings as he dropped to the ground.

However, before Poseidon could move forwards, Zeus lifted his arm and launched several bolts of lightning at Poseidon. The blasts filled the room with a flash and an ear shattering boom.

The electricity slammed into Poseidon, sending him sliding backwards, but in a smooth motion he drove his Trident into the ground, dragging himself to a halt, his chest heaving as steam wafted off his skin.

"Enough! It is over Zeus… give up… none of the others will support you after this! That throne should never have been yours and you, should never have been King. This is the punishment we are due for standing by and letting you do as you pleased!" Hades bellowed out as he rushed forwards and swung his sword down in an arc.

However, the sword was blocked by none other than Hephaestus, his large hammer swung out over Zeus's head as he held his other hand out pleadingly towards Hades. "Uncle please! We can't fight amongst ourselves right now! He should stand trial before the other Olympians! But half the council is missing.. We can't afford this right now!" he said as calmly as he could.

However, before Hades could react Thalia watched as Kolasi stood up from where she had been lounging on the stairs and walked over to Hephaestus. "I think it would be best if you moved, I was rather enjoying the show and now I'm bored…" Kolasi said cheerfully as she looked at the much larger figure almost towering over her.

For a moment Hephaestus looked at her in confusion and then an orange aura began to swirl around him. "You aren't an Olympian, why are you getting- URK!" Hephaestus said with a grunt of pain as he dropped his hammer to the ground and collapsed to one knee, his face flushed bright red as he seemed on the verge of collapse. His eyes screwed shut in pain, and his hands clenched tightly into fists.

Then Kolasi turned away from him, and like a marionette with its strings cut he collapsed to the floor, his chest heaving for a moment as he shakily forced himself to his feet. Smoke pouring out his his nose and mouth as he wheezed and gasped from breath.

For a moment he swayed there, a dazed expression on his face as Kolasi looked at him impassively. "Care to try that again?" Hephaestus seemed to snap out of it as he coughed and spat out ichor, before looking at Kolasi in fear. "Wha-what did you just do?"

"I set fire to the air in your lungs, that hurt pretty bad didn't it? But don't worry, I'm sure you'll heal up just fine." Kolasi said with a smile as she looked at him.

Hephaestus angrily swung his fist at Kolasi, a look of rage crossing his features for a moment. Until his fist collided with Kolasi, yet instead of a thud, or crunch. There was no impact, Kolasi simply giggled as Hephaestus's first went right through the side of her chest.

Her body erupted into flames as he swung right through her, stumbling past her with a look of utter confusion on his face. Before he suddenly came to a halt in an instant, as Kolasi turned around and grabbed his belt with one hand as he went past her.

"Oh, well that wasn't too bad" Kolasi said with another grin as she threw a punch right at Hephaestus's back. However the instant before it made contact, there was an explosion of fire like a small bomb going off.

The blast sent Hephaestus flying across the room away from Zeus and Hades; he crashed into the marble steps in front of the demigods, leaving a small crater as Kolasi stalked across the room towards him. Like some sort of predator, a wide grin on her face as she looked at the dazed God of Smith and Fire.

"Kolasi that's enough…" Hestia called out as a wall of fire sprung into existence around the Thalia and the other demigods. "You made your point… and you promised me that you wouldn't hurt any of them" Meanwhile, Hestia walked forwards, her entire body wreathed in flames, and her chiton gone, replaced by a red robe with a golden cuirass and greaves. She came to stop in front of Hera and Demeter, both of whom looked at Zeus with a mixture of disgust and anger.

Kolasi meanwhile pouted for a moment as she looked at Zeus before she shrugged and walked away. "Whatever you say…. I was just playing around..." Kolasi called out as she walked past Zeus, giving him a gentle pat on the cheek, as he looked at her in surprise, which quickly morphed into anger

Across the room Hephaestus was struggling to get back to his feet, and Thalia was amazed when the crazy bitch walked over and oh so casually sat down beside him, leveling a glare at the god as he looked back at her and immediately froze in place. Kolasi watched him from the corner of her eye for a moment before Hephaestus crashed to the ground clumsily as Kolasi grinned and went back to watching the events unfolding around Zeus.

Leo made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a scream as he watched his dad and Thalia had to admit, thank god Hestia was here. Not only was Kolasi clearly fucking insane, she was also dangerous… immensely so.

"What in the Gods….." Reyna all but whispered as she looked around at the insanity unfolding before them. Meanwhile Rachel beside her had a look of sadness plastered across her face, she had known this was going to happen. She had seen it, Thalia could tell just by the haunted expression on her face. Rachel had known this was coming and had done nothing to prevent it, not that Thalia could blame her, she wouldn't want to have seen any of this. Not to mention Thalia was here now and had zero idea what she could possible do to diffuse this situation.

A series of grinding metal blows echoed out as Thalia was snapped from her thoughts and back to the situation at hand.

Zeus stumbled back away from Hades, his Master Bolt arcing electricity as Hades lowered his sword, gripping it with both hands before resuming a position to attack.. "Enough of this! I'll forgive this if you stop now, we will put Kolasi back where she belongs and this can all be forgotten!" Zeus all but screamed as he looked between Hestia, Hades and Poseidon who was back on his feet and walking back towards Zeus.

However Zeus didn't get much of a respite as Hades was stalking towards him from the other side, "Again you put us all at risk, and for what? YOUR PRIDE? You don't deserve to call yourself king" Hades all but spat out as he pointed his sword at Zeus. "There are dead children in both camps below, our Champion has turned on us, and all of that because you thought you could outwit Gaea!"

Hermes was quick to move to stand beside Zeus, as he looked between the other two Gods with a pleading expression on his face. "I know what he did was foolish! But we still have Gaea to worry about! Please Hades, Poseidon, set it aside until we have dealt with her at the very least!" Hermes all but pleaded as he stepped in front of Hades' sword.

"The only thing I need to worry about is cowering behind you Hermes, like he always does, HOW MANY DIED TODAY BROTHER! WHERE WERE YOU? " Poseidon roared as he hefted his Trident once more, a massive wave of water swirling around him quickly condensed into ice as he launched several massive spikes towards Zeus.

Zeus frantically unleashed a blast of electricity and wind pressure as the shards of ice exploded on contact with the gust of air. However, Poseidon was on top of him in an instant, and with one hand he drove his fist into Zeus's gut, driving the air clean out of his lungs as Zeus's face flushed a deep golden color.

Poseidon then grabbed Zeus by the front of his ruined armor and snapped his head forwards , the impact was like a cannon blast, smashing Zeus's nose across his face and sending the God crashing to the ground.

Zeus lay there groaning, his body twitching in pain, and yet neither Hera or Demeter moved to help him, making an avid point of averting their gaze so as not to watch. Not that they would have gotten past Hestia, her face was twisted in a look of fury, her hair ablaze as flames trailed down her arms and legs.

Hephaestus had tried to help, but was currently halfway between laying and kneeling on the ground, occasionally coughing up ichor and puffs of smoke as he wheezed trying to breathe. Meanwhile Kolasi was sitting there calmly watching her uncles fight with a wide grin on her face. While Hephaestus looked absolutely shocked as he struggled to stand, his face flushed red in pain as he held one hand against his chest.

Hades stalked forwards and lowered his sword until the point rested on Zeus's chest, "Step down from your throne, willingly, and this can end here Zeus… I won't ask again, we should have done this a long time ago."

"The both of you are acting like fools! It was one mortal, one mortal life for all of ours and our children's!" Zeus shouted in anger as a surge of lighting and air blasted Poseidon and Hades away from him.

Allowing her father the time he needed to scramble to his feet and hold his hand out, the Master Bolt arced with energy as it grew white hot for an instant. Then with a flash of light the Master Bolt was gone, and replaced by a jagged sword, the whole thing radiated power as Zeus gripped it on both hands and looked at the other two Gods.

"Poseidon, listen to reason! We needed time and with the return of the Tartarii it only made sense to bargain!" Zeus shouted as he immediately had to duck under another blast of water, which gouged a chunk clean out of the marble wall behind him.

"The fact that you still think you can justify this cowardice is proof that you don't deserve to lead us…" Hades added, "Time and time again we have let you lead us into conflict because of your pathetic ego… No more." Then Hades leveled his sword in Zeus's direction, the shadows in the room instantly responded as they writhed to life and began rushing in Zeus' direction.

Zeus frantically tried to fight off the shadows, his body radiating light in an instant as the tendrils vaporized. However, in that moment of concentration he had failed to pay attention to Hades, who rushed forwards and launched a fierce series of overhand blows, which he ended with knocking Zeus' sword clean from his grasp before kicking him in the chest and knocking him backwards.

Then Hades lifted his sword and pointed it at Zeus, shadows leaping from the wall in an instant as they ensnared his arms and legs, pinning Zeus on his knees with his hands held to either side. The shadows were fast, covering his legs and rushing upwards in an instant as Zeus panicked and began to thrash about in a panic, a futile attempt at freeing himself. Not that it would have mattered because Hades was striding towards him, with his sword lifting high above his head, a look filled with murderous intent on his face.

Hermes rushed forwards with his sword drawn as he tried to stop Hades, his small blade lashing out to catch the blow from Hades as he struggled to hold back the more powerful Olympian.

"Neither of you have the authorit- URGH '' Hermes grunted out in pain as he was sent hurtling backwards away from Hades, a blast of fire from Kolasi rivaling that of a rocket launch roared out from seemingly nowhere collided with the messenger God.. Slamming him into one of the marble pillars that held up the throne room's domed ceiling before it shattered like glass and he crashed into the wall before dropping to the ground, a groaning smoking heap.

Kolasi stood there with one hand extended, flames still curling about her fist as it steamed in the cold air of the throne room. Hephaestus took this chance to stand, forcing himself up off the ground with a burst of movement as he looked around the room.

"Oops…" Kolasi said in an innocent voice as she looked back at Hephaestus and grinned. "Care to try your luck a second time?" For a second it looked like he might actually take her up on the offer, before he shrugged and took several steps backwards, staying away from Kolasi and the other Olympian's as he moved over towards Hera and Demeter.

"Good choice" Kolasi said to Hephaestus with a giggle as she turned to look at Zeus, her eyes lit up with flames, and an almost feral expression plastered across her face. As she returned to sit on the steps a massive snake made of fire seemingly materialized beside her, as she made little cooing noises and played with it.

Thalia was in shock, she didn't even see Kolasi move, and she batted Hermes aside like he was an insignificant fly. What's more, Hephaestus, an Olympian had crossed her once and was clearly not eager to repeat the experience.

Meanwhile across the room from her, his face flushed gold with rage as a sea green aura shimmered in the air around him was Poseidon. A veritable tornado of water and ice swirling around him as he clutched his trident in one hand, and leveled it at Zeus' chest. His whole body trembling with rage as he roared at the king of the Gods, "I DONT CARE WHAT EXCUSE YOU GIVE, SHE WAS HIS MOTHER! You swore an oath to keep her safe as did I!"

"HE WAS ARDWYR, HE POSED MORE DANGER TO US THAN YOU ARE WILLING TO ADMIT, AND IF YOUR SON IS ARDWYR, THEN HIS MOTHER WAS AS WELL. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE YOU DIDN'T KNOW!? TO BRING SUCH A "THING" INTO THIS WORLD WAS IDIOCY. I ONLY DID WHAT I NEEDED TO DO TO PROTECT US!" Zeus started to shout back before he screamed in pain, unable to throw his hands up in front of himself, or attempt to cover up in any way against a powerful, super condensed geyser of sea water that slammed him into the wall where he was bound. The impact created several cracks in the wall itself and tore off sections of his already ruined armor. Zeus's head lolled on his shoulders for a second, as ichor dripped from the corner of his mouth before he shook his head like a dog and his eyes lost that dazed look.

"Enough!… give up the throne Zeus… it's over and done with. The rest of our siblings aren't going to interfere and your children are all dealing with the repercussions of doing exactly what we told them not to do!" Hades shouted angrily as a look of shock crossed his face when the ground suddenly rumbled underneath their feet, and the sound of a fierce storm outside overtook the night air.

"Poseidon, calm yourself!" Hades called out in dire urgency as he noticed the demigods in the room. "You cannot afford to lose control, there are demigods here!" Hades shouted frantically as several of the pillars in the room began to crack, the very building groaned under the strain of the combined storm and earthquake threatening to put the building under.

Dust rained from the ceiling and the pillars groaned as marble titles broke off and fell to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces. The doors were blown open, letting in the howling gale that raged around the throne room. The hearth, whose flame was barely guttering in the wind, looked to be on the verge of being extinguished.

Thalia extended her shield out and ducked behind it, grunting in pain as several large shrapnel-like pieces of marble smashed against the shield. All the while she heard the shouts and curses of the other demigods behind her, doing their best to avoid the debris as well.

Tossing aside his sword as he charged forwards, Hades all but tackled Poseidon, the veins in his neck bulging as Hades futilely attempted to try and restrain Poseidon. His efforts, lost in a typhoon of water and ice, a physical representation of the Sea God's rage, as Poseidon began to glow golden, his eyes having been completely replaced by a near blinding green light.

"HESTIA!" Hades shouted out, as he looked towards Thalia, and all at once everything exploded around them.

Thalia vaguely had the sense of something moving in-front of them at blinding speed, the air filled with a strange echoing sound which she couldn't quite place.

For a moment, Thalia was terrified, her skin was burning, like she had been standing in the sun for hours, her vision was almost gone. Everything had been reduced to blurry shapes against a backdrop of white, and her ears were ringing.

So for a moment Thalia stumbled around blindly until gradually, she felt her senses return.

As she cast her gaze around the room she was amazed, the marble floor as well as the walls were broken and cracked. In the middle of it stood Poseidon, his body crackling with energy as he glared hatefully at Zeus.

Hades had been tossed aside, his armor steaming from the energy Poseidon had unleashed.

However none of the demigods were seriously injured, which was likely due to the presence of Hestia, who had thrown herself in front of them.

However, if she had looked mad before, Hestia looked enraged now. Her fingers curled in like claws as fire began to manifest in the air all around her. spreading out around them in a roaring half circle the fire seemed to pulse as waves of energy unleashed by Poseidon battered against it.

The ground began to crack and shatter around him as the God tensed his muscles and lifted the Trident, leveling it at Zeus, Poseidon regarded Zeus coldly for a moment before he snorted in disgust. "I should have done this a long time ago, little brother." Then he lunged forwards, only to stop nearly instantly as Hades held both his hands out, his face tight with concentration as several tendrils of shadow wrapped around Poseidon's arms and legs, stopping him just a few feet shy of impaling Zeus through the chest.

"Let me go now Hades!" Poseidon screamed as he struggled against the shadow tendrils.

"Why don't you just let him go uncle? I for one would love to see my favorite uncle put to the sword so to speak" Kolasi said from across the room. Her hand entwined with a living serpent of fire, that was slowly winding its way around her fingers.

"You don't get to talk! You shouldn't be out of your cell!" Zeus added as lighting cracked across the skies.

"Are you going to be the one to put me back… Uncle?" Kolasi added as every brazier in the entire throne room practically exploded, the small flames now raging infernos that scorched the ceiling and cast intense amounts of heat out into the room.

"You are dangerous! We locked you away for a reason!" Zeus added nervously as he cast his gaze around the throne room.

"Locked away doesn't carry the right meaning. The word you're looking for is betrayed; you betrayed me just like you betrayed this 'Sally Jackson' woman. For a reason?" Kolasi said as she made a mimicry of Zeus' voice. Watching the gold color rise in his face as she laughed loudly, while looking at Zeus' enraged face.

"It's fitting to see you terrified, scared and alone... exactly like you left me and your pride. Oh your pride must be tearing you up from the inside…." She said with a giggle, her whole body igniting in flames for an instant as her eyes took on a wild and fierce look. "Just knowing that I could end your little reign of tyranny with a thought, my mothers too afraid too use her power, but I'm not" she finished as her voice echoed around the room, the hearth of Olympus roared to life casting an orange glow across everything in the room.

Then in an instant the massive pillars of fire disappeared and the wild look left Kolasi's eyes as she grinned and sat back down on the steps looking across the room at Zeus. "I could…But I won't. Just don't ever forget that I could." She finished with a smile before she resumed playing with her pet fire snake, or whatever monster it was that she kept summoning Thalia thought with mild concern. However, the fire snake wasn't important. Kolasi had just threatened her father, what was worse was that Thalia wasnt really that upset by the idea of her Father no longer being king. After everything she had learned in the last few days... well, she couldnt stand there and deny he wasnt fit to rule, but none of them were.

"I did what I had to-" Zeus started to say.

"Zeus shut up… or I have half a mind to let our brother go and see what he does to you" Hades grunted out as he struggled to restrain Poseidon, the marble floor under his feet cracking as the shadows stretched from the corners of the room towards the light of the hearth.

"At least one of you has common sense… killing me isn't the solution here" Zeus snorted as he looked at his brothers, only to go very pale when Hestia walked up to stand in front of him.

"Let me make myself clear, Little brother… If this situation isn't fixed, if we cannot make this right, I will see you punished, I will hold you responsible… All you had to do was stay on Olympus and make sure your children played nice… But no, instead you went off to chaos knows where and your children fucked everything up!" Hestia snarled as her hair caught fire.

"What are you talking about!?" Thalia shouted as she looked at the Gods with an insane glare. "Is this why you kept us waiting for hours!? Because you were having some petty spat over what happened at the camp? News fucking flash, LOTS OF YOUR KIDS DIED…. Now what the fuck happened? Where were all of you while we were dying!?" Thalia shouted as she gestured at the Gods around them.

"By all means Zeus, explain to the demigods what you did…" Hestia added with a snarl as she walked away from Zeus. And save for the giggles from Kolasi the room was dead silent.

Zeus was glancing back and forth at the Gods, as if to see who would step up and say something, the only problem was that none of them would. Unfortunately, Athena, Ares and Artemis were still in the process of being healed.

Aphrodite seemed somewhat shell shocked, her face was tight and drawn with pain and she wouldn't meet anyone's gaze. Hephaestus remained where he was, having managed to get to his knees as the smoke billowing from his nose and mouth finally came to a halt. Now he simply kneeled there, struggling to catch his breath, while Kolasi sat on the steps beside him, her pet snake curled up on her lap as she drummed her fingers on the marble floor.

Apollo was missing, and no one had mentioned why he was gone yet, which was concerning as Thalia knew there were dozens of injured Demigods, as well as her mistress who desperately needed his help.

Zeus was alone. Hera and Demeter had remained impartial, clearly avoiding to look at Zeus as they sat still, almost as if they were ignoring what was going on in front of them.

"Well dad? We're waiting…" Thalia said impatiently as she looked at Zeus.

"I don't owe you or any of these Demigods an explanation!" Zeus shouted out angrily as he struggled to get back to his feet. "I am King of the Gods and I did what was best for us! I did what I had to do to ensure our survival!"

"And what was that exactly?" The voice of Annabeth called out from her side, except it was cold, and if Thalia didn't know it was Annabeth talking, she would have assumed that an evil spirit had taken over her body. "Because it was enough for Percy to rip Jason's arm off…"

The simple mention of Percy's name was devastating.

Poseidon seemed to crumble internally, all but collapsing if not for the shadow tendrils restraining him as he hung his head, his whole body shaking as he trembled, whether it was from rage or grief Thalia couldn't tell.

Hades and Hestia both avoided the gazes of the demigods, and for her part Hestia looked devastated, the look of rage vanishing from her face as she looked at the hearth sadly for a moment.

"A crime in and of itself! He attacked other demigods Poseidon… can you not see he is dangerous!" Zeus shouted frantically.

That was all it took from Zeus for the mood in the room to go from somber to enraged once more. Thalia had to give it to him, no one put their foot in their own mouth better than her father.

"He is dangerous to his enemies, and unfortunately I don't know if we are part of that group or not… why would you allow Gaea to go after his mother!" Poseidon shouted as he looked at Zeus. "I won't forgive you, and you will pay for this Zeus… because I doubt my son will ever forgive me. You may not have been the one to do the deed, but you may as well have killed her yourself!"

"Dad…. What did you do?" Thalia asked, knowing now that she didn't want the answer, but she needed to hear it, and it had to be from him.

"You should answer her, uncle, after all, lying to children and then breaking their heart is a specialty of yours… I wouldn't want your daughter to miss out on the loving way you treat your family…" Kolasi all but snarled.

"Oh don't worry… he turned me into a tree because Hades over there wanted to kill me… So yeah, he's not dad of the year in any book…" Thalia muttered out darkly as Kolasi looked at her in surprise. "This whole family is a fucking mess..."

"I wish I could say I was surprised, but honestly, I'm not, that seems exactly like something you would do uncle", Kolasi said almost sadly, Then almost as if a switch had flipped she let loose a scream of rage.

In the same instant her hands caught fire as she threw a heavy punch right at Zeus face, and restrained as he was, he couldn't even move.

The blow sounded out like a gunshot as Zeus's head was snapped backwards, his eyes rolled back into his head for a moment as he struggled to stay conscious. His nose exploded, ichor streaming down his face as Kolasi crushed it under her fist.

"Answer her or I'll hit you again, and I don't really need a reason to hit you… so let's not keep them all waiting." Kolasi all but snarled. "At the very least have the courage to kill the next family member you decide is in the way... your little prison's are a fate worse than death. So remember that this is all because you turned your daughter into a tree… now, before someone else tells me about another poor girls life you've ruined... answer the question"

Zeus looked around the room frantically, his arms and legs bound with shadows. Hephaestus still hasn't moved from his place on the floor. For a moment his gaze wavered over her and the other demigods, who were still standing at the edge of the hall, on the other side of the flames that Hestia had summoned.

"... I… I exchanged Sally Jackson with Gaea in exchange for a truce..." Zeus said in a defeated tone.

Absolute silence greeted those words, it was clear the Gods already knew, as several of them winced or looked away in anger.

Annabeth had told them that Percy suspected the Gods of betraying him, and killing his mother. But Thalia had assumed that it had to be a mistake, or a misunderstanding. But here he was, telling her straight to her face.

Poseidon and Hades looked at Zeus with hate, genuine hatred. Meanwhile Hestia and the other older Olympians regarded him with looks of disgust.

"B-but why? That doesn't make any sense!" Annabeth shouted out as she stepped forwards, a look of panic written clear as day across her face.

"Because it was clearly the only option we had. I sought a truce with Gaea since the Tartarii could pose a threat to us all. We cannot afford a fight on two fronts " Zeus said with fervor as he looked around the room.

"Gaea seeks our death, and when the Tartarii rise they will seek vengeance, not just against us, but against all of the Gods. I merely sought to buy us time to prepare. So when she asked for Sally Jackson in exchange for that peace… I obliged…" Zeus added as he looked at Poseidon with an expression that almost mirrored sympathy.

"If it had been anyone else I would have done the same. It was one mortal life in exchange for who knows how many." Zeus finished with a sad note in his voice. Before he resumed his defiant glare at Poseidon and Hades.

"But no matter what you say, I did what I did as King, for all of our benefit. What you are doing now however; is treason." Zeus said in an angry tone. "Killing me won't help you survive against Gaea or the Tartarii! That is MY THRONE. Here I am the King and I did what I needed to do in order to protect us!" Zeus shouted out in rage.

Throughout the exchange, Thalia had simply watched, almost as if she were someone else. Nico was staring at Zeus with a look of rage across his features, even while tears streamed down his cheeks.

Frank and Hazel looked at each other in shock, even as Leo was watching Zeus with a strange expression on his face. Thalia could see the embers floating off his skin and even she could understand that something was happening to Leo, she just didnt understand what.

She just didn't know if it was good or bad, but so far, if he really had this Will thing Kolasi was talking about, he was going to be as powerful as some of the minor Gods.

"So you offered her up like a sacrificial lamb!?" Annabeth all but screamed at Zeus as she rushed forwards, barely pausing as she approached the wall of fire. Luckily Hestia seemed aware enough to lower it as Annabeth walked to the top of the steps and glared at Zeus.

"I did what I thought I needed to… And I don't need to explain myself to a demigod!" Zeus shouted out as he thrashed against the shadows restraining him.

"I don't know about that. Maybe start by explaining why the hell you thought it was a good idea? Gaea has already said multiple times that it's Percy she was after. Why would you give her his mother!?" Annabeth screamed back at him. "Of all the CRAP you have spouted over the years.. This right here, This is the worst YET!"

"You cannot speak to-" Zeus started to say before a blast of fire slammed into his face, leaving him screaming in pain momentarily.

"Oh, do go on… I was enjoying that" Kolasi said with a smile as she looked up at Annabeth from her seat on the steps. Thalia just looked at her in awe, with a small grin on her face, However a glare from Hestia was returned by a sheepish shrug from Kolasi. "He's alive, I didn't hurt him… too bad…." She said, holding her hands up as if to ward off the Goddess.

At first, Thalia was shocked, actually stunned and speechless. Not that it lasted long, as she snorted with laughter at the absurdity of this entire situation. Spinning around to look at the other demigods with a crazed look in her eye. "They're all fucking insane…. It's like they live in some fantasy world…"

Frank and Hazel were silent, just nodding their heads in agreement.

"So what do we do?" Rachel asked quietly from behind her.

"Well normally I guess we would ask you and Apollo but seeing as he's missing in action and you're asking me… I'd say we have to figure this one out ourselves…" Thalia said bitterly.

"We do exactly what the Prophecy calls for, no more of these futile attempts to subvert fate…" Hestia said as calmly as she could manage. "Gaea is still a threat, our God of prophecies is missing, and now we must choose a new King or Queen to lead us."

"Great, so that's it? All of this is just being dealt with 'Internally'?" Annabeth asked in a deadly calm voice. "I defended you all…. I told him there was no way you would do what he accused you of! That it had to be some sort of mistake!" Annabeth continued, her voice slowly getting louder and louder as she moved from talking, to screaming at the Gods.

"You honestly expect any of them to fight for you now? Once the demigods hear what Zeus did, that will be the end of it." Thalia called out, her gaze locked on her father as he sat alongside the wall. "I don't see any way that we tell them and they react well…"

However, at the mention of that Hestia and Hades hung their heads sheepishly, the guilt clear as day on their features. "We can't tell them…. Not yet at least…." Hades said quietly.

"... what did you just say?" Annabeth asked, a scowl crossing her fair features as she looked right at Hades. "Why the fuck not?"

"You know well enough Annabeth… If we tell the demigods at large about this treachery, how many will stand with us against Gaea… how many would risk their lives knowing their Gods betrayed the greatest among them… " Hades finished quietly as he hung his head.

"How many demigods would join him is the more important question…." Hera added from her seat off on the side. Her gaze darted around the room worriedly, "Never before has such a powerful Hero gone astray.."

"He didn't go astray Hera… Zeus gave his mom up to a crazy psychopath and how the hell did none of you notice!?" Annabeth called out as she looked at the two seated Olympians with open contempt.

Hera's face instantly twisted into a sneer as she opened her mouth to reply. Only for Demeter to lay a hand on her shoulder and stand, looking at Annabeth and Thalia directly.

"We noticed a heavy presence of the mist within New York, shortly after the disappearance of the Ardwyr. Hera and I decided to investigate, for fear that it had something to do with you, Piper Mclean and Jason Grace." Demeter said softly as she gestured towards Zeus. "When we arrived there was damage done to the entire city block, and all three of you as well as Sally Jackson were nowhere to be found. We raced back to Olympus to alert the other gods, and it was too late."

"What do you mean too late? You're Gods, how do you show up late!?" Thalia shouted out as she looked between the pair in amazement.

"Well Perseus had already battled with everyone except for Ares up to that point. Zeus was gone and only Hermes and Hephaestus remained. Shortly after Perseus disappeared. At which point Aphrodite returned alongside Poseidon, Hestia, Hades and Kolasi… and it was made known to us that the three of you were in danger, as to why Aphrodite kept this from us I have no idea…" Demeter finished with a sigh.

"So… you know how bad this looks?" Thalia replied as she looked between them all in shock, she expected Gods to act like children, but this was on another level. "You know how many of your children died because of what happened tonight? Right!?"

Hestia turned around to look at Annabeth and Thalia sadly, meanwhile none of the other Olympians would meet their gaze. "And you lot want to lie, about what happened? You want us to look at our brothers and sisters and lie to their faces about why we are fighting this war? And who were actually fighting?"

"If we lose the support of the demigods now, there is little to no hope any of us surviving this war… My husband needs to face judgment for the crimes he committed. But, it would be the end of us all to turn the demigods against us now… and I fear that is exactly what they would do if they learned of Perseus's fate." Hera added as she looked at Annabeth.

"And if they learn about it anyway and find out we all fucking lied!?" Rachel called out from behind them. "Have you taken a moment to think about what's going to happen then? Annabeth and Piper actually saw him, and you want them to lie to everyone?" Rachel finished with a look of shock on her face.

For a moment there was silence, not a single God or mortal made a sound. All that could be heard within the Throne Room was the crackling of the fire.

"Yes… if that's what stops Gaea from winning this war and killing all of us…" Hestia replied after a moment's pause.

And it wasn't only the demigods who were shocked by that answer.

"Hestia…. you aren't thinking clearly…. This is my son we are talking about" Poseidon said harshly as he looked at the Goddess of Hearth and Home. "Those demigods are braying for his blood right now, and they don't understand why he did what he did or even who he is, And you want to leave it at that!?"

Hera looked at Poseidon uncomfortably, "Zeus' actions were deplorable Poseidon, but the reasoning behind them was sound. Until we can convince Perseus we are not his enemies, we cannot afford to tell the demigods what truly happened. How many of them would turn on us? How many would join Perseus if he attacked us and they knew?" Hera finished with a sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Is that all you care about!? Your fucking thrones?" Thalia shouted out angrily as she looked around the room.

"Thalia... if we fail to stop Gaea, if we fail to stand united during this, we will fall, Olympus will burn and the demigods will be hunted like rats. Until we can find out where Perseus is and what he's going to do, I fear we cant tell the camps. Otherwise we risk the demigods turning on us as well." Hestia replied quickly.

"If he called for them they would listen, and he is not of his right mind right now. He tore Jason Grace's arm off, not only that; but he is an Ardwyr. If we do not treat this seriously there is a very real chance he will kill one of us. Chaos help us if he ever sees Zeus." Hades added with a guilt ridden look plastered across his face.

Thalia just watched the Gods, acting as if this wasn't the most cowardly pathetic thing they had ever done. She had always known the Gods were shitty, they didn't really care about mortals and were more focused on the Mythical world.

But it was becoming clear to her, in a rapid fashion, that they just didn't care about anyone other than themselves. They had spent so long as immortals that the only thing they actually feared was the end of that existence.

However, the rest of the Olympians debated the validity of lying to their children about their own misdeeds. Thalia simply looked over at Annabeth. Watching as her friend shook with rage, her fists clenched tight at her side, and her face flushed red even as she stared at the floor.

"... you must be insane if you think I'll let Zeus walk away without paying the price for his actions! NEVER AGAIN!" Poseidon all but roared as he cut through the chatter between the other Gods.

"What would you have us do Poseidon? Have you seen the hearth? The flame of hope is meant to be eternal, and it's going to go out on its own. They will not handle this blow, not with enemies on all sides. It will break them to know that the greatest among them has turned on the Gods." Hestia added with finality in her voice. "To know that we betrayed him... Zeus has made us all culprits in his plot... willing or not."

The God of the sea had his eyes locked onto Hestia, the veins in his neck and arms bulging as he strained against the shadow tendrils restraining him. "Hestia…. I'm warning you… If you let Zeus live to see the next sun rise I will have no part of whatever this is. I won't fight you, but I refuse to work alongside him. If he lives, Atlantis will not stand with Olympus, I can assure you of that!" Poseidon said with a snarl, the very air itself crackling with power as he locked gaze with Hestia.

Thalia's jaw just about hit the floor, the gauntlet had been thrown down so to speak. Poseidon wanted her father dead, and if he didn't get that, then he would make sure that Olympus stood alone against Gaea and her forces.

Another series of intense quakes rocked the floor of the Throne room as the mountain underneath them seemed to come alive, cracks and grinding sounds echoing all around them as the whole building shook, right down to its foundations.

"Poseidon! Calm yourself, this isn't what we agreed on. We never planned to kill him.." Hades said with a grunt as several of the shadow tendrils snapped under the strain the wrathful sea God was putting them under.

"Fuck what we agreed on, I want him dead! Too many long years has he spent trying to kill my children… I'm done humoring him" Poseidon growled out as his eyes flared a bright green, however his look of rage slowly changed to one of confusion and then pain as he suddenly sagged on his feet. His face frozen in a mask of agony, teeth clenched in pain.

"Funny…. That's what I was about to say" A malevolent voice rang out throughout the throne room, echoing for a moment before a deep, unsettling laughter sounded out.

"Poseidon…? What's wrong, Broth-URK!" Hades screamed out as what could only be described as liquid shadows began to burst forth from Hades. Exploding out of his mouth, and nose, running down his skin; the liquid smoked and released black vapor even as Hades stumbled away from Poseidon.

Thalia looked around in a panic, wishing she still had her spear, and instead being forced to draw a small silver hunting knife in one hand as she looked around. However, that was hard to do with the ground shaking and cracking as badly as it had.

"Something… something's wrong.." Demeter groaned out, her face covered in sweat as she stumbled to one side.

"No, nothing's wrong Granddaughter, in fact for the first time in a long while, everything is exactly as it should be" The voice called out again, except this time it came from the doors to the throne room.

Thalia whipped her head around, squinting to make out the figure through the pounding rain and high winds as she stumbled about. However, she couldn't mistake the woman standing in front of them. A wide grin on her face, her long hair was a dark brown color, and braided with several vines and flowers.

Her skin was a pale cream color, and the long chiton she wore started as a dark forest green at her shoulders, and slowly changed color until it resembled the color of dirt.

All of the Olympians looked at her in stunned silence save for Kolasi who cocked her head to one side and grinned. Her entire body ignited with flames as she walked forwards and stood beside Hestia, her eyes locked onto the woman.

"What are you doing to them!?" Hestia snarled as her body caught fire, a pair of wings not unlike those that Kolasi used to fly, unfolded to cover Poseidon and Hades from view as steam wafted out of Hestia's open mouth. "Better yet, how are you even here Gaea…?"

Authors Note:

Yep, it's a Cliffhanger…. Don't hate me. The chapter was literally getting too long to be feasible… it had to end somewhere guys! Also I promised this chapter was going to have the Japanese demigods, I apologize but I felt that for the good of the story i needed to write this chapter first.

Please bear with me a little longer, anyone looking forwards to seeing Ren and Akiyama make a comeback won't have to wait much longer.

Okay another chapter done, First off I want to apologize for how long it took for me to get this one out. That was unexpected by me as well.

I went on vacation and got sick almost immediately after I got back. Not Covid but probably the worst flu/cold I've ever had. Combine that with shitty humidity and the hot weather and I was dying no matter where or what I was doing which sort of put me out of commission for like a week.

This was also an important chapter with lots happening and it took a while to get it to a point where I was happy with it. So again sorry for the delay but here it is!

Obviously a LOT happened over the course of this chapter.

We got a great play-by-play of the events from Hazels PoV after the battle, and got to see what it was like for the demigods in the aftermath. (Not pretty)

Obviously Kolasi's first pov was interesting to write, she comes off a little crazy. But for someone locked away alone as long as she was, I think it's fair. What do yall think? Her powers are certainly a little different and quite powerful but we will go into more depth on them in some later chapters.

Annabeth…. I just don't really know what to say about this PoV. I hope you all liked it :D

And yikes, what went down in the throne room was not pretty, but very cathartic for some of you, too see zeus get put in his place a little. He's kind of been a bit of a shit disturbing asshole in this fic so far.

And I'm sure that cliffhanger will get me some hate, but I promise you all it will be explained shortly!

I hope that was a good chapter for everyone, lord knows it took me forever to write. Hopefully I can get back to a regular update schedule…. But knowing my luck something is bound to come up.

Anyway, I wanted to thank you all for being patient while I got this chapter finished up to the level of quality I wanted. I would hate to put out something that wasn't done or that I wasn't happy with.

As always thanks to everyone who Follows/Favs/Reviews it means alot to me and I try my best to read and reply to every comment that I can. (if you comment as a guest you may not always get a reply if there is more than 1 guest comment on the chapter to avoid confusion) But i really appreciate it all the same!

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Until next time!